Less Then Human: Screw the Lie
by Mystic25
Summary: SEQUEL TO RETURN TO INNOCENCE Summary: It has been three months since Cree returned home, significantly changed, but she's no longer keeping quiet about it CHAPTER SIXTEEN UP!
1. Outside the Comfort Zone

"Less Then Human: Screw the Lie"  
  
Author: Mystic25 (yellowrubberduck31@hotmail.com)  
Summary: Sequel to "Return to Innocence" Cree came home four months ago to the life she left behind. She soon realizes that she was one of the only lucky. And keeping silent about the ones who didn't have fate step in for them is not an option anymore.  
  
Rating: R for graphic violence, nudity, sexual situations and language. If you're underage I can't stop you from reading this, but remember you were warned here about what you were getting into.  
  
A/N: I'm back from my hiatus. I needed time to think up a good sequel. So I watched a lot of TV, (heh poor me huh?) read books wrote other fan fic and here I am. I didn't have a good GOOD idea for the sequel so I didn't want to rush it. But I'm researching for a sociology paper again (this time in college) on sexual slavery, and found so much new information (new to me at least) that I wanted to get back to writing on this fic. I took the title from a quote I think is very thought provoking from "7th Heaven" talking about viewing women as objects  
  
A/N #2: Like it was mentioned in the summary this story is set three months after "Return to Innocence" All new characters I created in RTI (the main ones I mean) will come back. So Ming and Peter and Jade will be back. Ty as well; his namesake (Ty Pennington, carpenter from "Trading Spaces") keeps throwing ideas into my head at how to work MY Ty's character (since Pennington is incredibly sexy and funny, sweet and smart all rolled into one very nicely shaped man) I use that as a base for Cree's boyfriend. Max and Logan's relationship..it will grow from before. Don't know if wedding bells will be mentioned, hafta see how it goes. Cause sometimes people have this complete committing thing and they never tie the knot. Good (fictional) example is Mulder and Scully from the X Files, even after season nine had them have a kid together, they didn't run off and get married..they were just who they were, two people who love and respect each other. If you don't get marriage for M/L here, I'll save you a big chunk of marital bliss in "Choices" chapters  
  
DEDICATIONS: To Tab for all her support and bringin' the luv on "Return to Innocence", trusting me enough to beta her work:) and just being there when I needed someone to bounce ideas off of, or talk about absolutely nothing. Luv ya girl.  
  
And to her friend, who I've never met, who lived this hell for real, who is a reason I write this, to break the code of silent abuse.  
  
*****   
  
CHAPTER ONE  
"Outside the Comfort Zone"  
  
March 12, 2021  
(Three Months After "Return to Innocence")  
  
BANGKOK, CHINA  
WEST SIDE  
10:30 PM  
The metal door opened, sending shock waves of noise through the night air. Three brown rats were scattered from the entranceway at the sound of the noise.  
  
A police force quality maglight's beam cut through the darkness, shining on the rats, the dirt, and everywhere in between.  
  
Inside the small space fifteen girls were jammed together like over OVER packed sardines. Each one was dressed in skin tight show all dresses that even street walkers would find too hoochy. High wrap around stiletto heals adorned all their bare legs and feet in all colors of the rainbow. Some sat on crates, others found an almost magician trick way to sit down without having their tiny skirt bare all to the night air.  
  
The bearer of the flashlight quickly shut the door, pointing the beam at them like a laser pointer. He started shouting at them.  
  
(Spoken in Mandarin Chinese)  
  
"On your feet you bitches!" the light hit each girl's face "You're going out of the city! Move or I'll throw you in the harbor as buoys!" he forcefully grabbed several of the girls, shoving and kicking them to the door.  
  
*Mother mother, there's to many of you cryin'  
Oh brother brother brother  
There's far to many of you dyin'   
You know we got to find a way  
To find some lovin' here today  
  
Baracades can't block our way  
Don't punish me with brutality  
Talk to me so you can see  
Oh what's goin' on  
What's goin on.*  
  
He loaded all the girls into a fishing boat tied to a loading dock at the end of a peer. They scrambled inside light frightened deer caught in the cross hairs of a hunter's .22 caliber rifle. After the last one was shoved inside the tiny room where even sardines wouldn't be comfortable, the large wooden door that led down to the cargo bin was closed shut.  
  
The motor coughed and spat like a pissed off cat, and finally chugged to a start. The men silently navigated down the waterway, paying attention to the Chinese police boats stationed at the various loading docks and plane runways. Though the men inside weren't too worried about the police.  
They slowed down fifty minutes later coming to a halt at a large wooden dock that surrounded an empty runway except for a single plane and two enormous piano crates on the landing strip.  
  
Two police officials were on night duty there, but as soon as the navigator of the boat came out he saw that it had been taken care of. A man on the dock was busy handing each officer two envelopes of cash each and a three cartons of cigarettes.  
  
The girls were dragged out one by one onto the deck. The cool night air of Chinese spring blew past and sent goose bumps through skin that their clothes barely even covered up.  
  
The inside man shinned his flashlight into the group of women who were trying to huddle together to keep warm.  
  
(Spoken in Mandarin throughout) "How many you got?"  
  
"Fifteen" one of the nameless men who had brought the girls here answered. He looked at the two large crates, his expression changing to anger "There are no holes! How the fuck do you expect to get them there alive if they can't breathe?"  
  
The other man pulled a cocked Sig Sauer P299 from the waste band of his pants and blasted a dozen holes through the word "Fragile" written on the boxes. The holes were still smoking when he replaced the gun, and some of the woman backed away from the noise.  
  
The other man gave no praise for this, and turned to the women "Get in! Now! Move it!" he had a sig as well and waved it at them to prevent any disobedience.  
  
He opened the crates and pushed them inside like it was shelter from a storm. Those that were reluctant he threw inside, landing them against the backs of the others already there.  
  
He went around to close the one large door that was on hinges.  
  
"Wait!" one of the cop's voice stopped him "How about one for the sergeant?"  
  
"They're not free" the man answered back  
  
"If you don't want a report on this to officials you might want to reconsider that"  
  
The man looked at him hard. He reached inside and yanked out one woman in a pink shimmery tube dress.   
  
"No!" some of the women were screaming. They had been thrust into a kind of family and they knew each other by the rare moments they got to talk when they were being shuffled around.  
  
"Please!" the woman who was thrown to the cop was begging them to let her leave with the others "Don't make me stay here!" being together was the only thing that kept many alive. It meant that they were still "good" They were piss scared of being separated to other rings and houses where they would be the "old trash" and would most likely be fucked to death by strangers or shot by the pimps because they were 'too used over'  
  
The cop back handed her in the mouth "Shut up you bitch!"  
  
She buckled at the hit, and grabbed at her the blood forming on her lip.  
  
"Ask him where my babies are!" a nameless woman shouted at her. Her children had been kidnapped from her by these men two days after they found her coming out of a local bar alone. One jumped her, raped her, knocked her out with a nightstick and brought her to the brothel. Her children, two small boys had been brought there, shown right in front of her face. She tried to get to them but they beat her down and dragged them away, the boys screaming for her the entire time. She never saw them again. Her pimp threatened her that if she ever tried to escape or tell anyone about where she was he would take her children and shoot their faces off. She begged him to tell her where they were, but he would play the cruelest game with her and only let her know "they're alive, and if you don't do EXCATLY what I want they won't stay that way"  
  
"I will!" the woman in the pink dress shouted as the doors of the crates were shut sealing in their human cargo.  
  
"I told you to shut up!" the cop backhanded her again and dragged her to his patrol car to make use of her.  
  
He ripped her clothes off in the back seat and undid his pants. He slammed her like an animal, only there for his quick itch hump. His partner kept watch the entire time  
  
He left her lying in the back of the patrol car, her dress torn down the middle leaving her lower half bare. He handcuffed one of her wrists to the hold built into the door of patrol cruises to lock a criminal in with handcuffs.  
  
He zipped up his pants, grabbing her hair with a free hand "Don't try running away, or I'll make it so no one will ever believe what you tell them" He threw her back down onto the seat and closed the door.  
  
She lay there in a pool of his seamen on her crotch and heard the car door slam and the motor start.  
*****   
  
SEATTLE WASHINGTON  
UNITED STATES  
SECTOR 2  
8:30 PM (THE NEXT NIGHT)  
  
The flatbed truck meandered its way through the dark roads, a pass from the sector police for clearance into the city stuck on the windshield. On the flatbed itself large wooden piano boxes rested on it, held down by four chains linked to the bed's side.  
  
The truck finally stopped next to an old warehouse.   
  
Men came out and quickly used a lift fork to lower the crate inside the warehouse.  
  
The man in the truck was given a stack of bills. The driver looked at the American currency for a moment, pocketing it in his denim jacket. After the crates were off the flatbed he turned and left.  
  
"See what we have" one of the men broke the padlock and the doors swung open.  
  
The women inside squinted at the light; their eyes hypersensitive to it for being held in the dark for over a day. They were rumpled, sleep deprived since the constant movement of the crate kept sleep from ever happening. The crate smelled of urine, where some women relieved themselves during the ride and of blood from those who started their cycle and had no way of containing it.   
  
Each one was yanked out.  
  
"Damn, hoe's stink" the man waved his hand in the air to ward off the foul smell. He took a water hose from the ground and turned it on, spraying them all.  
  
The women screamed, Seattle was still cold in March and being wet made it worse.  
  
"Shut up!" the man pointed a gun at them, and they fell silent. "Now get back there!" he pointed to the vast emptiness of the warehouse, where a few women were already lined up. He shouted at them the only Chinese words he knew "Get back! Get back!"  
  
The women scurried back to the others. They were all sitting down, some chained by an ankle to a bedpost. Like them, these women were also dressed in almost nothing with over done lips and bright purple and brown eyelids.  
  
There were no more chairs so they all sat in the stagnant puddles of water that covered the floor. Seamen oozed out of used condoms standing in some of the puddles mixing one liquid with another.  
  
The man dropped the hose and came around to these "new arrivals" He had customers already lined up, and he turned to them.  
  
"Whose in the mood for Chinese?"  
  
*****  
  
Song used in this chapter: "What's goin' on?" WTC Tribute 


	2. Radar Blipped

Chapter 2 "Radar Blipped"  
  
A/N: The first bit was to remind ya'll of exactly what this story is about. Yes, about Cree, but also about that disgusting sh*t. The title for this chapter, well I was watching "John Doe" last night, and they kept mentioning radars, and they are used to detect objects in your area and do something with them, and that goes for people too. Read it, hopefully you'll get it.  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
SECTOR 5  
11:50 PM  
  
The door opened with barely even a click. The person entering was almost soundless, almost. A creak of another door was heard, this one being enough to register on any standard sonar equipment.  
  
Movement came from the room the door opened, a bedroom. Sheet's rustled and a masculine but ornate black bedside lamp was switched on.  
  
"Max" Logan squinted at her in the light, reaching for his glasses. He was surprised to see her there. All though it had been over two months since they started a real relationship each still had their private time. She had only stayed over the entire night five times in the last four months. And he had been with her overnight at her place once; that time when she was shot by the same man who had kidnapped Cree.  
"What are you-" he stopped mid question when he noticed her pale, sweaty completion where normally it would be dark, tan and completely oil-less. "Are you okay?" he immediately gave way to concern for her.  
It wasn't like her to sneak in his place. She had only done it once to steal Bast. If she had done it now, it was one of two things, she needed some very important information, or that she was hurt in some way.  
  
It suddenly clicked with Logan why she was here, like finally using the right key to unlock your front door after failed attempts trying to use your car key because you couldn't tell in the dark. "Are you having one?"  
  
"Yeah" her voice was strained as she admitted this, jerky, like someone was shaking her shoulders as she was talking. "Cindy left Crash an hour ago and I got it afterwards." Each word was a struggle to get out since her body wanted her to pay attention to what was happening to it. "I didn't want to wake her up-"  
  
"You have your meds?"  
  
"There were only two pills left in the bottle"  
  
Logan climbed out of bed. He wasn't one of those guys who slept shirtless, he was wearing a dark gray faded muscle tank and old track pants that were now only used for sleeping in because of the wear on them. He came beside her and grabbed one of her hands "Lie down" he pushed her into the mattress, successfully getting her to lay on her side before heading into his bathroom where an extra bottle of her Tryptophane pills were kept under the counter beside the first aid kit. The pharmacist he got them from kept wondering about his purchase. As far as they could tell, he was perfectly healthy. But they never questioned it because he always paid in cash. Did that because it was harder to trace then checks that could be linked back to Max since Manticore had feelers in Seattle and knew that their creations had these flaws since they screwed them.  
  
He came around to her side of the bed with a handful of pills and half a glass of water in a paper cup. "Here" he handed her the pills. She took them with shaky hands and downed them with some of the water that didn't manage to spill out on her chin and down her shirt because of her shaking hands.  
  
He took the cup from her after she finished, wiping the water from her chin, and below her neckline. Her breasts were warm from the affects of the seizures. But it didn't affect him the way it did when he touched her at night in other circumstances. He also wasn't one of those guys who got turned on every time he touched his girlfriend's private areas. This wasn't about sex, she was drained, she needed his help, and he would be one sick bastard if he allowed himself to get a hard on when she was vulnerable like this.  
  
He reached down on the 'wrong' end of the bed and removed her shoes, then he worked his way up and peeled of her leather jacket from her sweat soaked body. He set both down on the floor to deal with later. He stood back up and walked around to the other side of the bed.  
  
The mattress springs creaked as he climbed in beside her, pulling her back to him. Her body was now touching him so he could feel each one of her tremors. Her heart beat wildly against the part of his arm that was securely across her chest.  
  
She tensed up greatly as an enormous bolt of pain shot through her body. She cringed like she had just suffered a blow to the gut or a labour contraction.  
  
"It's okay" he rubbed her stomach under her tank top with one hand "You'll be okay" his breath was warm by her ear.   
  
She felt for his hands around her midsection, covering one of them with her own "Thanks, you didn't have to-"  
  
"Shh" he silenced her kissing the side of her face, his hands brushing some sweat soaked hair away from her cheek. "Just try and get some sleep"  
  
"I can't sleep now-" her voice hadn't changed yet  
  
"Then I'll stay awake until you do-"  
  
*All these words are only frostin' on my cake  
Feelings explain, don't do justice to how I feel  
So alive, so in love for the first time  
No way can I hide who am I  
  
Her other hand reached around to grasp his free one. He leaned over and kissed that same spot again "I'm here"  
  
(slow zoom out shot of them lying on the bed with the lyrics of the song growing louder)  
  
*He is the dough increaser, the pleasure releaser  
The hard knocks knower without the scars to show ya  
The night school teacher, the good life preacher  
The caretaker, the kiss craver  
  
He is*  
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOUS, CALIFORNIA  
  
(Fade into a shot of someone bolting up in bed in the darkness. Only a shadow is seen because there are no lights on in the room)  
  
Light filled the room as a red and black colored lamp was switched on. She had gotten this room to herself ever since her sister volunteered to move to their father's old "dark room/work area/junk space" a month ago.  
  
She stared at the clock. The flashing green "12:30" glared at her. Her raspy breathing blocked out all other sounds in the room. She threw off her covers because they felt too heavy on her legs. She got up off the bed, her rumpled gray pj bottoms rustling against the sheets. A hand moved back to pull the long sweaty strands of black hair from her shoulders. The dark black dragon tattoo was coated in sheen from her sweat.   
  
She stopped to look at her reflection in the mirror. Pale as usual. Nightmares had been attacking her for the past two weeks. /Now that I don't live it any more I'm haunted by the damn thing/ Cree took a brush off her dresser and began working out the tangles in her hair. She grabbed a red mini hair upsweep sword and wrapped her hair in an round and round loop with the tool almost the same way the actress Zhang Zhaiee did right before she fought Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour 2" She took the hem of her white tank top and used it to mop the sweat from her face.  
  
She switched off the lights again before venturing outside her bedroom. The hallway was empty, only a faint light came from a butterfly plug in nightlight Cree had gotten at a Berkley street fair when she was twelve. She had put it in the garage sale box three years ago after she out grew butterflies and lacy priss, but after she disappeared Ming took it out and put in there because she couldn't bare to sell it.  
  
She padded past that, the butterfly silently watching her as if it were alive and had just stopped at the outlet because it mistook it for a flower. The old clock above the TV ticked away at her. She looked at it's wood, pine, but painted, trying to pass off as a much richer cherry. Three years she had been gone, but it still looked as ugly as it did then. There still was a tiny crack line in the face where Jade and her had throw couch cushions at it that one time it really pissed them off with that stupid "gong gong" sound it made at the start of every hour. Ming came home from work and grounded their asses, but she never got it fixed. She was never really fond of that clock either, it was a present from her mother after she married Peter. Kind of a "I hate what you're doing but here's a clock" present. She only kept it to kept it because it did tell time well, and she wasn't about to buy another clock and give her parents something to rant to her about.  
  
The refrigerator door opening partly lit up the kitchen counter, reflecting off Ming's service weapon lying in it's holster. She kept her gun in a metal safe deposit box with a combination lock, and would put it there right after she got off duty along with her pepper spray and back up weapon. The bullet clips were kept somewhere else that Ming never told anyone except Peter where they were. The only time she forgot to lock up her gun was when Peter "loosened her up" in the living room after she got off duty.   
  
Cree had gone to bed before her mom got home, and she was a sound sleeper, which was good since she really didn't want to hear her mom and dad pulling an all nighter. She knew they loved each other, but she didn't want to know THAT.  
  
It was late, and she didn't want to wake her mom. So she picked up the gun and removed the clip with the other hand, tucking it into the pocket of her pj pants. She doubted anyone would break in since most people knew around here that this was a cop's house. But there could be some uninformed looser and she didn't want the gun just out there loaded for him to have a free for all.  
  
She opened the fridge door again, and peaked her head inside it. Her dad's Heineken was there, next to some grape juice, a couple of cans of Pepsi and the Sam Adams her mom drank. Ming wasn't a "Malted Ice" drinker. She took her stuff hard, not girly. The beer tempted Cree, she hadn't lied to her family that she had started drinking, having memories of Crash in her head while she said this.   
  
Peter wasn't too comfortable with this, considering she use to think beer was pee in a bottle. But he didn't lecture her hard on it, just telling her to watch her consumption, because no matter what, getting hammered wasn't fun, for anyone.   
  
She settled on the Pepsi instead, deciding to get buzzed on caffeine and sugar instead of alcohol. She grabbed a glass from the dishwasher and popped the cola.  
  
The drink glugged out of the pop top hole and fizzed into the glass as she poured it. She looked up when she heard another noise in the living room.  
  
Jade was there wearing her traditional plaid boxers and black muscle tank top she always slept in.   
  
"Can't sleep?" Jade always slept with her hair on one big braid and it bounced when she moved over to the kitchen.  
  
"Yeah" Cree admitted, she never lied to her sister. They were more like best friends then big sister and little baby brat. But it was taken up a notch if Jade got in trouble, Cree was always there to protect her like any big sister or brother would. The way Zack took punishment for Max when they were kids at Manticore. "Sorry I woke you"  
  
"You didn't" Jade stated through a yawn. "Dad did, heard him sweet talking mom" her new room was two rooms down from her parents but the walls were thin.  
  
Cree made a face and picked up her Pepsi "You want one?"  
  
Jade thought about it for a moment "Sure, since it's Saturday, otherwise I'd be up having to pee every five seconds and be all crappy for school"   
  
Cree took out the last can from the fridge and threw it at her sister.  
  
Jade caught it with one hand, she was very into basketball. She popped the drink and sat down on the dark blue sofa in the living room, turning on one small lamp.  
  
Cree joined her a few seconds later, holding her glass.   
  
Jade sipped her drink, looking at Cree's pants "That a clip in your pocket or our you happy to see me?"  
  
Cree set down her glass and proceeded to beat Jade up with a couch cushion.  
  
The Pepsi sloshed out onto Jade's tank top and she gasped at the cold liquid "I'm telling mom!" she threatened in a teasing child like voice she used when she wanted to get her way when she was five.  
  
"Mom can't save you tonight girly girl" Cree hit her again for good measure.  
  
Jade laughed as the soda slid down her top, onto bare skin since she didn't sleep in a bra.   
"I quit" she set her drink down on the coffee table and wiped off some of the mess with her hand.  
"Was it a bad dream?" she had stopped laughing, her voice serious.  
  
Cree looked at her "Yeah" the playful anger was gone, replaced by her quiet battle scared voice.  
  
"Tell me about it-"  
  
"Jade you wouldn't understand-"  
  
"Tell me" Jade was more forceful this time. She didn't want to judge her, she just wanted to listen. That's what sisters did.  
  
"I'm back in that room" Cree's voice was sad as her memories drew her back to her nightmare and her past terror. "Jacks' there and-" she had to pause to bite her lip "He's watching them fuck me-" her anger was harsh  
  
"Who?" Jade wasn't a shrink but she good at what she did.  
  
"Three men, I don't know who the hell they are" her voice rose, and she lowered it again so she wouldn't wake up her parents "They each have their turn at humping me like a dog, keep calling me bitch the whole time, and-" tears were now on her face "then it just went dark and I woke up-"  
  
Jade had tears glistening in her eyes as well; one broke free and ran down her cheek.  
  
"Hey" Cree leaned over and wiped the tear off her face "Don't cry over me, it's over-"  
  
"No it's not" Jade informed passionately   
  
Cree went silent for a moment, just looking at her baby sister. "You remember that song mom use to sing to us when we were kids?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"That one from the time you started crying after that looser little boy called you a "Chinee black haired looser" at your school-"  
  
"Oh yeah Rob" Jade remembered it now "Some black kids at my school pounded him for saying he wanted to fuck their eight year old sister and be like Thomas Jefferson and breed the race" she said this totally disgusted.   
  
Cree looked grossed out too "Maybe we should've sang that at the talent show"  
  
Jade shook her head "Would've been beaten out by "I'm Not a Girl: Not Yet a Woman"  
  
Cree managed a smile at this, going quiet for a moment before starting to sing:  
  
"I've been seeing Lisa now  
For a little over a year  
She say she never been so happy  
But Lisa lives in fear  
That one day daddy's gonna find out  
She's in love  
With a brother from the streets-"  
  
"Oh how he would lose it then but  
She's still here with me-" Jade started to sing along, harmonizing with her sister's velvety voice one key lower, blending voice with voice. She still very well remembered the song  
  
"Cuz she believes that love will see us through  
And one day they'll understand  
And he'll see me as a person  
And not just a black man-"  
  
This time Jade came over and wiped the tears from Cree's face. She hugged her tightly without a word  
  
(music gets louder as Cree and Jade's voice is replaced by the artists' of the song)  
  
*Cuz I believe that love is the answer  
I believe that love will find a way  
  
I believe that love is the answer  
I believe that love with find a way*  
  
*****   
  
I wanted to get more into Cree and Jade's sister relationship, because they only had one scene together at the end of the series last time. I didn't work Ty in here, was going to, but he'll work out better in the next chapters. Cree's life isn't all grand now that she's home, she not in physical danger, but now she's left with the scars..  
  
Songs used:  
  
"He Is" Heather Headley (GREAT song by an amazing artist..if you haven't heard her I encourage you too)  
  
"I Believe" Blessed Union of Souls (I use this song a lot in my fics, but it is very moving)   
  
R/R please 


	3. Break Ya Neck

Chapter 3-"Break Ya Neck"  
  
A/N: Sorry for the wait, couldn't think of a good chapter for a while..but I'm back. Title is taken from the name of a song by Busta Rhymes. I used it cause this chapter is hard hitting and is what I feel should be done to people who do this crap to women.   
  
R rating still..for language, sexual situations and violence.  
  
*****  
  
BANKOK CHINA  
  
The woman opened her eyes and saw red. She tasted blood in her mouth, and spat to rid it of the coppery taste. Her tongue felt like someone had tried to pull it off. Blood coated it like it was suppose to replace saliva. The man, he tried to french her too hard, she though her tongue would be torn off. Her mouth had an overpowering nauseous taste of blood and seamen since she was forced to give him a blowjob. Her middle was still bare and wet from her own cum and blood, so much blood. He was huge and he rode her like they matched. She screamed the entire time, finally passing out, but still feeling him on her even after she lost consciousness.   
  
Her pink dress was torn straight up the middle, flapping against her sweaty thighs. She rolled over and spat. After the job had been done she had simply been chained where she had passed out. Her vagina burned and blood still ran down her legs. Her breasts ached, he was a biter, welts peaked out of her dress that had fallen past her endowments. She tried to move her arms but felt two chains holding her. She sat up as best she could and saw that she was lashed to the bed. The room was dark except for one lamp casting small light on the concrete floor of the police officer's office.  
  
Something was lying in the middle of the floor, a bundle. She looked at it hard for a moment, and when she realized what it was she screamed  
  
"NOO!" she struggled to get free, wrenching at her wrists to break the chains. Trying to reach the child who lay there still, covered in blood from being shot in the chest.   
  
(Spoken in Mandarin Chinese) "P'Jou Yu! P'Jou Yu!" her screams echoed off the walls. She screamed and tried to reach her son. "NOO!"  
  
The boy wasn't moving, he had been brought there an hour ago, his body was still warm, but he was barely alive. He had been brought in by her pimp. Across his blood ridden T-shirt and down his leg was a boldly painted message in black inked Chinese characters:   
  
"Disobedience will not stand bitch"   
*Please come now I think I'm falling  
I'm holding on to all I think is safe  
It seems I found the road to nowhere  
And I'm trying to escape  
I yelled back when I heard thunder  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say*  
  
Her screams attracted the pimp who had come to collect her. He broke into the room in time to see her wrenching free of the chains, breaking her own wrist in the process.   
  
"P'Jou Yu!" she crawled over to him, but the pimp grabbed her and threw her to the ground. He then took out a .22 caliber rifle and shot off right at the boy's face, killing him instantly.  
  
"NOO! NO! NO!" she screamed, trying to run to him, but the pimp threw her into the wall.  
  
*Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
That maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down*  
  
She landed hard on her back, sliding onto the floor. The pimp approached her and grabbed her by the hair. He pointed the barrel of the rifle at her son's body "can't you read?" he threw her back in the wall. She still screamed for her son.  
  
"Shut your trap you filth!!" the pimp kicked her hard in the face, and hit her again to knock her out.   
  
He turned when he heard the cop entering, his uniformed rumpled from where he slept in it.   
  
The pimp pointed at the boy's body "Take care of this. You don't want a dirty precinct record. He picked up the unconsciousness women and dragged her out the door to his car.  
  
*I'm looking down now that it's over  
Reflecting on all of my mistakes  
I thought I found the road to somewhere  
Somewhere in His grace  
I cried out heaven save me  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say  
  
Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
That maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down*  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE   
LADDER 12  
  
*There's another world inside of me that you may never see   
There's secrets in this life that I can't hide   
Well somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find   
Well maybe it's too far away   
Or maybe I'm just blind   
Maybe I'm just blind*   
  
(Dream sequence)   
  
Ty is looking at Cree standing in front of him "Hey"  
  
"Hey" he didn't know what to say to her  
  
"What took you so long?" she approached him and threw him on the ground kissing him,  
  
"Ty.."  
  
"Ty"  
  
"TY!" (dream fades)  
  
Ty felt someone slapping him "Yo Aris get that pretty ass up! Got a call!"  
  
Ty opened his eyes and saw his Chief standing over him where he crashed out on the cot.  
  
"Okay!" Ty got up and went to grab his gear.  
  
"Next time get more sleep at home Aris!" Chief Saunders called out "Move it guys!" he shouted to them "Fire is work!" he watched his team scramble to get their gear and slide down the polls.   
  
Ty knocked over a picture of Cree in the process of trying to scramble in the living areas. All the guys put photos of their wives, girlfriends and kids on this big dresser that held the TV in the living quarters, at least the ones that they didn't have tucked up in their helmets. Ty got ragged on for finally joining the club when he stuck one of Cree up there that she had sent him from Los Angeles.   
  
*So hold me when I'm here   
Right me when I'm wrong   
Hold me when I'm scared   
And love me when I'm gone*  
  
Ty jumped aboard truck 12.  
  
"Nice job hot boy" his friend Jerry called out to him getting into the drivers side of the rig. "Next time sleep earlier so you can continue your good dreams"  
  
"Just gun in Jer" Ty warned  
  
Jerry laughed to himself, flipping on the sirens and rolling out of the station's garage.   
  
*Everything I am   
And everything in me   
Wants to be the one you wanted me to be*   
  
*****   
  
*I'll never let you down   
Even if I could   
I'd give up everything   
If only for your good*  
  
FOGGLE TOWERS   
  
Logan leaned over Max, who was still asleep on his bed. He had gotten up an hour ago, but surprisingly she was still sacked out. He didn't wake her, seizures tended to sap her of her energy.  
  
He pulled a lock of hair from her face "Hey" his breath was warm by her ear "Max" he kissed her ear "C'mon you gotta go to work." A pause "I need to make up the bed"  
  
She didn't open her eyes, but a smile formed on her face. Rolling over she looked at him "I'm awake"  
  
"How ya feelin'?" he touched the back of his hand to her forehead  
  
"Almost got my bounce back" she let him know "Should be one hundred percent by this afternoon"  
  
"Why don't you skip work?"  
  
"Then why the hell did you come in here and tell me I hafta work?'  
  
She got him there "Cause I know you're stubborn and won't listen"  
  
"And I don't need a nurse"  
  
"Don't think I'm going for that role Max" he let her know "How about just a boyfriend?"  
  
"So no white dress uniform then?"  
  
"Shut up" he warned her teasingly, leaning closer to give her another kiss. She responded to this one, putting both hands on either side of his face   
  
*So hold me when I'm here   
Right me when I'm wrong   
Hold me when I'm scared   
You won't always be there   
So love me when I'm gone   
Love me when I'm gone*  
  
"Work?" Logan asked after the kiss paused for a second   
  
"Give it a second" she told him with a smile   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  
RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL  
  
"C'mon" Jade told Cree who was parked outside her sister's high school after driving her there. "I want you to see my painting I did in art class" she slid off her seatbelt and opened the door to her mother's black Chevy Tracker.  
  
"Aiight" Cree agreed, throwing the SUV into park. Stepping out in front of her old high school felt so strange. She had never gotten past the ninth grade, never graduated. The kids wandering around she knew as freshman were now seniors on their last lick of high school and she just came back from being fucked into submission while they had argued over prom dates and senior class songs.  
  
Kids were hanging around the grass outside the school, most in their usual clicks. Some of them stopped when Cree passed them. Most of them guys, turning away from their girlfriends to look at this girl in army green biker pants and a white tank top. Some she knew, but they didn't recognize her at first.   
  
"Baby baby come sit by me"  
  
Some girl slapped the boy upside the head.   
  
He rubbed his head and looked back at Cree for a second "Aww yo that's her-" he turned back to his friends and said something in a low voice and soon everyone in the group was staring at her.   
  
"That's Jade's sister-" she heard one of them whisper, but not very quietly.   
  
"Where's that slut's boyfriend?"  
  
"He probably got rid of her after she messed with him-"  
  
*When your education x-ray cannot see under my skin   
I won't tell you a damn thing that I could not tell my friends   
Roaming through this darkness, I'm alive but I'm alone   
And part of me is fighting this   
But part of me is gone*   
  
Cree was so pissed. Had she not been taken, and still lived in that simple minded screwed up world that they did she would have let it slide. A Frisbee feel at her feet, and she bent down to pick it up.  
  
"Nice ass though-"  
  
"Rich shut up, she's a whore-" the girl was cut off when the Frisbee within inches of her and her friends head. It slammed into the tree they were sitting at and stuck there seconds later when Cree's switchblade landed in it, breaking through the plastic and into the tree.  
  
"Head's up" Cree removed her knife and pocketed it. No administrators watched the kids in the morning so she was safe, and she already missed three years of classes here, what would they do to her?   
  
They watched as she slid the knife back in the sheath strapped to her ankle. Cree removed the entire sheath and threw a long pass to chuck it in the SUV before rolling up the automatic windows.  
  
In LA schools everyone had to go through medal detectors and Cree wasn't about to get caught with a knife. Getting arrested for deadly weapon possession at her old high school was not what she would call "recouping her looses" of the past three years.  
  
She clicked the automatic lock and looked at her sister "You ready?"  
  
"Yeah" Jade shot a death glare at the girl "bitch"  
  
Cree had to smile at that "Let's go see the painting kiddo"  
  
They walked up the three flights of stairs since the elevator had gone out because someone had had sex in it and jammed up the buttons, bets were taken on exactly how.  
  
They made it to the third floor and Jade led her down the hall to her art class. "The instructor's pretty cool. She only teaches twice a week, think she has another job." The door opened.   
  
"Hey Jade, came to get a head start?" the instructor's voice, a woman called out to her.  
  
"Just wanted to see you Ms. Sam"  
  
Sam Locke was in her early twenties, brown haired, blue eyed. Pretty. She had just started teaching at the school last year. She didn't like the students to call her Ms. Locke, it sounded so old, and some of the students respected their instructor enough to not want to just call her Sam. So "Ms. Sam" was compromised.   
  
"Love it when my students give me props" Sam was a woman who talked like she belonged on the streets of LA not teaching in the schools. She set down some scratchboard images some her students had been doing on her desk. "Did you want to get started on your artwork?"  
  
"Yeah-" Jade began "Oh and Ms. Sam, this is my sister Cree"  
  
"Hey" Sam held out her hand "Nice to meet you Cree. Welcome to my drab little corner that my students try to spruce up."  
  
"Thanks" Cree responded. She looked to the walls at some paintings on black photo board "Who did those?"  
  
"I did" Sam answered seeing her look at an image of a forest floor done in rich greens and muted browns. "Art was always a passion"  
  
"It's beautiful"  
  
"Thanks girl" Sam smiled "Your sister is great at this too. She's all into abstract boldness."  
  
"Like?" Jade chose that moment to show them one of her paintings. Solid red with the Chinese symbol of Zen painted in large loose strokes in many different colors.   
  
"Wow" Cree was impressed "Cool job girl, does it have a name?"  
  
"Shroud of Color" Jade answered proudly "Dumb huh?"  
  
"Don't be so down on yourself" Sam told her "It's your view of how you perceive your art. No one has the right to say something bad about it."  
  
"What do you call that?" Cree nodded towards the image of the forest Sam had painted  
  
"Escape" Sam answered her clearly   
  
"I see it" Cree informed "Nice place to think, get away from it all"  
  
"Yeah" this time there was something in Sam's voice that was different, almost like she was lying, but she had lied for so long she had perfected even that into another one of her works of art. "So-" her subject change was swift, something she also seemed good at. "Cree you into art?"  
  
"Yeah, I just can't make any"  
  
Sam smiled "there's art in all of us, just have to look for it" she looked at her watch "Damn." She turned back up to face them "Sorry I lost track of time, class will be starting soon."  
  
"I should go then," Cree informed  
  
"Nice meeting you girl" Sam held out her hand "Your welcomed back whenever"  
  
"Kay" Cree replied "Thanks" she looked to her sister "See ya after class"  
  
"Got it" Jade waved at her as she went out  
  
"Sistah's nice" Sam told Jade after  
  
"Yeah" Jade responded  
  
"She seems a little sad though, like something's bothering her"  
  
"We all have our demons Ms. Sam" Jade reminded.  
  
Sam looked at Jade, her face suddenly changing, into another, one with brown hair and brown eyes, younger.  
  
/"We all have our badness." The girl looked at her  
  
"That's why they take our blood right?"  
  
The girl nodded "Yeah, to cleanse it, least that's what he said"/  
  
"Yo Ms. Sam" Kenny, one of Sam's students drew her out of her thoughts  
  
"What?" Sam looked at him  
  
"Dropped something" he pointed to a piece of paper that fell off her desk.  
  
"Yeah thanks" Sam bent down to pick it up, her long hair falling forward in her face because of the movement.  
  
"Damn was that an accident?" Kenny was looking at her pointing "Nice though"  
  
Sam stood up, brushing back her hair "Just was being a teen rebel like you Kenny" she paused for a moment "Class is startin'"  
  
Kenny nodded up at her and went to his seat. "Guys I gotta take roll-" she ignored the groans "I know, but they're payin' me to do this"  
  
"Get paid either way Ms. Sam" Kenny noted making the others laugh.  
  
"Glad you fell outta bed today to roll with us Mr. Vickers" Sam marked him as "here" on her roll sheet.   
  
"Maria" she kept taking roll "Jade, is here. Chris, Celeste, Rhonda, David, Karl, Max-"  
  
/"Max! Maxie! They're coming" she crawled over to her and held the girl who was shaking. "You have to move Maxie"  
  
"I can't" she whispered back "Don't get caught with me-"  
  
"I can't leave you Maxie-"  
  
The doors opened  
  
"Go!" Max hissed at her/  
  
"Max?"  
  
Sam turned to the voice "Sorry *Maxwell*, didn't mean to trifle your love affair with the coffee brand" She produced more laughter. She laughed too, quietly "That's everyone. Okay guys" she set her roll sheet on the desk "Get out the work you started last time. We're continuing on it. Don't want anyone using this to get all huggy bugged with your honey, or listenin' to Eminem or DMX or whoever was in your player after you fell asleep from beer from your weekend shack up. This is art time, got it? Get started"   
  
Movement was heard as the students brought out their art supplies.  
  
Sam sat back on her desk  
  
/"Maxie!" Jondy slid over the ice, desperately trying to reach her.   
  
The frigid water in the hole was still except for the occasional ripple. "No!" she stuck her hands in the cold cold water, feeling a shooting icy pain go up both arms.   
  
She felt something soft, human like, and she pulled not feeling pain anymore, only freezing numbness   
  
*Sad eyes follow me  
But I still believe there's something left for me  
So please come stay with me  
'Cause I still believe there's something left for you and me  
For you and me   
For you and me*   
  
Finally, something bobbed to the surface gasping for breath.  
  
"Maxie.." Jondy struggled to pull her out  
  
"Go!" Zack's hiss echoed over the water   
  
Jondy turned to Max, who now lay gasping on the ice. She grasped a cold icy hand of her sister   
"Don't forget me-"  
  
"Move!" Zack's voice was getting louder  
  
Jondy let go of Max's hand reluctantly and ran off into the woods/  
  
Jondy's eyes wandered around, looking at her students busy with their art. Absent-mindedly she rubbed the long scar on her hand where a sharp piece of ice had slashed her when she was reaching for Max.  
  
*****   
  
CHINA  
  
She sat there in her chains that were lashed to the bed, staring at nothing but darkness. Her mouth tasted coppery from the blows she had received. A door opened, and the light assaulted her eyes. Her pimp entered, pushing someone in front of him.  
  
(in Chinese)  
  
"Yee-" she looked into the face of her other child, the only one she had left.   
  
"Mama-" the pimp forcefully pulled him back when he saw who it was, and started to run for her  
  
"YEE!" she struggled again to get out of her chains, her broken wrist burning like fire, but she ignored it.  
  
"Mama! Mama!" he tried to reach her, crying for her  
  
"Shut up bitch! He's still alive" the pimp notified curtly, still dragging the five year old to the door.   
  
*Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
That maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down*   
  
"MAMA!" the child was now screaming, trying to fight with the pimp to get away.  
  
"YEE!" she cried for her son, hearing him still screaming as the door was slammed shut   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE   
  
*Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
That maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down*   
  
She grasped ahold of the floor, screaming as she was entered again.  
  
"Shut up girl!" the large man riding her slapped her down "I didn't pay for a fuckin' screamer!" he slammed into her again.  
  
In the massage parlor the other girls heard the screams, but none went to do anything, afraid for what would happen to them.  
  
(music slows down and lead singer now sings quieter)  
  
*Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking*   
  
(fade out)   
  
*****   
  
this chapter is very very thick, but that's what this subject is about. Not gonna sugar coat it cause I'm making up the characters, the situation is real. Killing children is gruesome, but terribly that's what can go on and that's what I need to show  
  
I originally planned to have Sam (aka: Jondy) have to run from LA (know she suppose to live in San Francisco, but she can commute) because of a threat to her. But I changed it this morning cause this story is not just about Manticore, and if I did that I would take away from the main topic, which is sex slavery. She is in there for a storyline with Max, NOT to take the spot light off the issues this story presents.   
  
This one was a long chapter; once I started I couldn't stop.  
Songs used are:   
  
"When I'm Gone" (Three Doors Down)   
  
"One Last Breath" (Creed)  
  
R/R please 


	4. Reality Town

Chapter 4-"Reality Town"  
  
A/N: Thanks to BlackRose, Northern Star and Tab for all their support and comments on the last chapter.  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE CITY JAIL  
  
"Okay kid" the door slid open "You can go" Det. Sung stood there  
  
Jack stood up from the cot "I'm out?"  
  
Sung shook his head "What? You think I'm stupid? You kidnapped that girl three years ago. She gave a positive ID-"  
  
"She's lyin'"  
  
"Cut the crap Warren" Sung informed, "You were in here for 'protection' before. But the situation has changed." He stepped into his cell, closing the door behind him "You and I both know that you did it, but that this kind of crime is more often bribed away cause it's considered a throwaway, not worth the paper to write up a report. City has more "important" things to worry about. You'd be outta here and back to sellin out more girls faster then I can fill this tank up with drunks."  
  
"So you're admitting defeat?"  
  
Sung had to restrain himself then. "Get one thing straight kid, you didn't WIN here. You think sitting in a jail cell surrounded by guys who could pop your head like a pimple and other who would love to whomp your ass in the showers is wining? Let me tell you something-" Sung leaned closer "A lot of these guys, as hard as they are, they HATE minor molesters, and child abusers. Even with all the crimes they commit, they would just love nothing more then to break them up into little pieces."  
  
"So where does that leave me?" Warren asked  
  
"You go to a regular cell" Sung pulled out his handcuffs "Shame that AFTER you got off for 'lack of evidence' you would get drunk after curfew and wind up back here."  
  
"You can't keep me here based on that!" Jack cried out "That's crooked"  
  
"Seattle's full of crooked cops Mr. Warren" Sung handcuffed him "I'm not one of them, but lucky for you I can be a damn good actor when I want to be"  
  
"DUI is only a twenty-four conviction," Jack reminded him "And wouldn't I be locked up in here? It IS the drunk tank-"  
  
Sung closed his handcuffs around Jack's wrists "Not enough room. Got a group off all night partiers coming in, so we'll just have to find some nice place for you in the back in with the armed robber and the guy who sliced off his employers balls with a machete" he lead him out of the cell "Let's go"  
  
"All this over a bitch"   
  
Sung snapped his head to face him "Should thought about that a long time ago pal"  
  
*****  
  
LOS ANGELOUS   
  
*I remember how it use to be  
You never was this nice or cared for me  
Now you're talkin' like you never changed  
The more you talk the more things sound the same  
  
It doesn't matter what you do or what you say  
She don't love you, no way,  
Maybe next time you'll give your woman a little respect  
So you won't be hearing her say "no way"*  
  
Frames fell on the dresser as Cree yanked the pictures out of them. Ones of her and Jack taken at various spots around LA, school, clubs. She threw them all into a heap in a trash can and dropped a lighted match inside.   
  
*No you're never gonna get it, not this time  
Never ever gonna get (my lovin')  
You're never gonna get it, not this time  
Never ever gonna get it (my lovin')*  
  
"Cree?" Ming rounded the hallway to her daughter's room "Baby you're gonna set off the smoke alarm" she saw what Cree was doing, and truthfully it didn't bother her, she just didn't want alarm to ring and send the neighbors running to the aid them.   
  
"Don't care" Cree stated in between throwing the letter Jack had written to her in the burning trash can along with the photos.   
  
Ming grabbed Cree's oak desk chair and placed it in the center of the room, under the smoke detector attached to the ceiling. She removed the plastic covering and slid out the battery. "At least deactivate it" She jumped down from the chair, her bare feet hitting the carpet soundlessly. She wasn't one to wear shoes in her house, preferring to be comfortable. Her painted iridescent white toenails matched the tiny stone in her toe ring. She was dressed casually in flair blue jeans and a red muscle tank top.   
  
"Who kiddo" Ming snatched a photo from the air as it fell before it hit the flames "Don't think this one goes in the "burn asshole burn" pile. She handed her daughter back a photo of Ty he had sent her two weeks after she came home. It had been take in the firehouse, and he was dressed in his issued blue t-shirt. "Nice thing to have around in case of emergency. Too bad he's in Seattle"  
  
Cree stopped in her destruction of all things Jack "Mom" she almost sounded like any other teenage girl being ragged on by her mom on a boy she liked. Almost.   
  
"What?" Ming feigned complete innocence.   
  
Cree rolled her eyes good naturedly, looking at the badge looped around her mom's neck. "Thought you weren't going into work until tonight"  
  
"I'm not" Ming agreed "Before I saw your little pyro stunt I came in her with the notion to ask you to come down to the precinct with me. Guys have wanted to meet up with you since you came home. I turned them down the first few times since you didn't need to be a spectacle in the 45 right after coming back."  
  
"But now-" Cree threw the last picture she had of Jack into the fire, and watched it burn for a while.  
  
"Now, if you're up to it I was thinking we could make an appearance"   
  
"It'll be just like old times" Cree suggested. Ming had brought both her daughters into the precinct on many occasions. Her colleagues became infatuated with the girls, and after they learned about Cree, many a paralegal, forensic guy and fellow officers and detectives came into to express their sympathy and offer support to Ming and the family. After hearing over her rescue Ming's supervisor gave her two weeks leave with pay so she could spend more time with her daughter.   
  
"Max is Detective now"   
  
"You're kidding?" Max DeLuca had met Cree when she was thirteen on one of her visits to the precinct. Back then he had just been an officer and he was still green. His enormous help in a drug bust/hostage situation was just the push the brass upstairs needed to promote him to detective status.  
  
"Nope" Ming stated "Hard to believe huh?" she smiled "You should see him he's 24 now, and filled out with muscle." Max's nickname on the force was 'pimple face' since he looked more like a gawky skinny teenager then an officer of the law. But after being assigned to one of the hardest districts in LA with his partner, he muscled up and street wised up. He now had several guys out on the streets that looked out for him. Back when Cree knew him he was still wet behind the ears and couldn't walk down the barred windows and doors area of LA without pissing in his pants and re-thinking his decision to become a cop.  
  
"Guess I'll have to go then" Cree agreed with a smile "If Max DeLuca now fits into Big Boy Pants it's a sight I CAN'T miss"  
  
Ming laughed "Isn't that friend of yours from Seattle, the real cute one named Max?"  
  
Cree nodded "Yeah. Guevara"  
  
"Like the Grennich Guevara's?"   
  
Cree shook her head with a low laugh "Not exactly" she knew the family her mom was talking about. They were a filthy stinking rich group of oil and stock market diggers who had settled themselves kerplunk in a nice thirty acre three million dollar estate in Issaquah, called "Grennich Manner" and who made more money then Logan's family or the President of the U.S. ever did or could in a life time.   
  
"She shares a rundown, condemned apartment with her roommate, the other chick with her at the airport. When I was there she had to bribe a sector cop three times to keep him from evicting them."  
  
"Well regardless" Ming went on "She seems nice, a real 'I-know-what-I-want kinda' woman"  
  
"You just described her perfectly mom" Cree replied  
  
"Then how did you two manage to live together and not kill each other?" Ming kidded, "You're so much alike"  
  
Cree absorbed the ribbing, and punched her mom mockingly in the shoulder.  
  
"I'd beat you down baby, but if you wanna go kick it with the guys we have to get going"   
  
"Kay" Cree agreed with a smile   
  
*****   
  
BANGKOK CHINA  
  
The squeaky bed rattled, creaking, moving. The man on top paid little attention to the woman in chains on the bottom.   
  
After she came he got off of her. "Fair service bitch" he punched her across the mouth, because she had given "fair service" and he had wanted "fuck my brains out"   
  
His pants slid back on his filthy bare ass. Forgetting the t-shirt he left through the open door.  
  
Someone met him halfway.  
  
"Cash prick" the pimp held out his hand, and his captive could see China's paper currency change hands.  
  
"She wasn't even very good" he left, shoving past the pimp.  
  
The pimp threw a piece of wood at her head "You bitch! Can't even do anything right" he disappeared for a moment leaving her to feel the warm blood tricking down her face from a gash in her forehead alone.  
  
He came back a few seconds later, this time with her son.  
  
"Yee!" she struggled to get free, then she saw a gun. "NO!" she tried to free herself.  
  
This time though he shoved the boy forward with the gun. "Family time" each word dripped with sarcasm, it was all for manipulation. Teasing her with her son, to let her know she still had things to loose if she tried anything. "I'll be back in five minutes, if he's not waiting at the door I'll blow his brains to the roof" the door slammed.  
  
She looked at her son "Yee?" the light was too even tell if he was hurt.  
  
Slowly the little boy made his way over to her. She hated making him see her like this, she was naked from the waist down, with cum still pooling on her body and she was bleeding from her forehead. Her pimp knew how she looked and he did it on purpose to make it meeting humiliating for both of them.  
  
"Mama?" he looked at her hard, seeing the blood on her body and her lower half bare, and he started to cry.  
  
"Don't cry honey-" even where they were she was still the mother of a little boy, the only child she had left, trying to make him feel better "It doesn't hurt that much-" her insides were burning and her head was still ringing from the blow with the punch and the wood her pimp threw at her.   
  
After a moment Yee climbed onto the creaking bed, and it almost gave way under his tiny weight. He held onto the metal planks with tiny steadying hands, then slowly climbed over so that he was laying on top of his mom, like he use to do when she had the luxury of tucking him in at their reasonably priced apartment in the industry district of Bangkok.  
  
His little body was warm against her filthy sweaty one.  
  
*So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn  
There's vultures and thieves at your back  
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies  
That make up for all that you lack  
It don't make no difference, escape one last time  
It's easier to believe  
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness  
That brings me to my knees*   
  
She wanted so badly to hold him but she was still chained to the bed. She felt his tears slide down her chest and felt her own as she tried to burn each of the five minutes into her memory before reality hit again.  
  
*In the arms of the angel far away from here  
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel  
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie  
You're in the arms of the angel; may you find some comfort here*   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE   
JAM PONY  
  
Max came whizzing back inside on her bike, stopping right in front of Normal's desk.  
  
"No riding that thing inside missy" Normal pointed to her looking up from his clipboard.  
  
Max just ignored him and dismounted. She headed back to her locker and nearly collided with someone on the way.  
  
"Ty" she sounded surprised, as far as she could tell they didn't have any fires. All the pyro heads of Jam Pony were on runs.   
  
"Hey, Max" Ty greeted her "I thought I remembered you saying you worked at Jam Pony"  
  
"Dirty job, but someone's gotta do it"  
  
Ty laughed "I here ya"  
  
"So why you here? Place may not be the Ritz, but we're up to fire code standards"   
  
Ty held up a red object "Routine delivery of fire extinguishers. Free service by Ladder 12."  
  
"Who'd you piss off to get this kindergartner's fire assignment?"   
  
"No one Max" Ty corrected "I'm happy to deliver safety materials to Seattle's local businesses," he slung the extinguisher over his shoulder. "Guys at my ladder said my food was sucky at dinner last night so they volunteered me to the chief for this. It was either that or a lesson on 'Why Johnny Doesn't Play With Matches' for the elementary schools."  
  
"You dodged a bullet there"  
  
"Tell me about it" Ty agreed "Little kids can be lethal with their questions and nosiness. So-where should I put this?"  
  
Max looked over at Normal, slapping a fly and Sketchy away from his desk with a swatter. "Right over here" she walked over with him to show him where it was.  
  
"How's Logan?" Ty struck up conversation in the six seconds it took to get over there.  
  
"Coo'" Max gave a one word response "Ya here from Cree lately?"  
  
Ty nodded "She called me my apartment two nights ago. Suppose to call her today. Tell her you said hey"  
Ty dropped the extinguisher on Normal's desk.  
  
"No peddlers" Normal warned, not even really paying attention to what it was.  
  
"It's a fire extinguisher Normal" Max told him "Ya know things that are required by building code safety regulations?"  
  
"How much is requiring going to cost me?"  
  
"It's a free service" Ty cut in. "Provided by the local Ladder of the Seattle Fire Department"  
  
Normal gave him the once over "and you are?-"  
  
"I work there." Ty answered "I'm a firemen"  
  
"Yeah well thanks for the freebie, but now seriously get out of my business and go rescue cats from trees on your free time next time"  
  
"Can see why you like it here so much" Ty stated once they were out of Normal's earshot.  
  
"Oh yeah-" Max agreed jokingly. "That and all the benefits, I'm tellin' ya"  
  
Ty laughed again "Gotta get back to the Department. I'll let Cree know you were thinking about her"  
  
"Thanks" Max said "See ya around."  
  
"With this city, defiantly" Ty knocked fists with her "later girl"  
  
Cindy came out of the lockers then "Why didn't you tell me Ty was kickin it here?"  
  
"Sorry"   
  
"S'aiight boo" Cindy said and Max turned to her. "Wonder how she's doin' " she spoke this time of Cree.   
  
"Probably better now that she's home" Max suggested  
  
"Yeah" Cindy agreed to that "But home or not, demons are still hard to face." She faced Max completely "You stayed the whole night with ya squeeze didn't ya?" it was a completely loaded rhetorical question.   
  
"I need your permission to go out at night now?" Max was playin' and Cindy knew it  
  
"No suga. Just details."  
  
"I had a seizure, fell asleep in his bed." Max told her the absolute truth "No hot and heavy stuff"  
  
"Too bad" Cindy noted "Sorry bout you feelin' bad and all boo, musta put a screw on the evening"  
  
"Not really" Max informed "Strangely enough relationships aren't all about sex"  
  
"Now why is it that only shorties know this stuff?" Cindy asked "If I were to stop a guy and ask him bout this-" at that moment Sketchy came inside the building wheeling his bike beside him "Perfect example here. Yo Sketch!"   
  
Sketchy stopped and turned around "Sup ladies?"   
  
"Relationship thing." Cindy began "Bangin' the gong a lot is an important part right?"  
  
"One of the best" Sketchy agreed.  
  
"Rest my case" Cindy turned to Max. "Can't tell me that Logan doesn't act that way too"  
  
"I'm not Logan" Max reminded  
  
"But you're hooked up with him"   
  
"Trust me, he's about more then just sex"  
  
"How can you tell boo?"  
  
"I'd beat his ass down otherwise." Max stated straight up "This body comes with a brain attached"  
  
"Go girl" Cindy said with a smile "Crash tonight?"  
  
"Aiight" Max agreed  
  
*****   
  
weird place to end, but I couldn't think of enough stuff to write to keep this chap goin' good.  
Sorry for the wait. Three research papers I have, and their all due next week..ahhh!!  
  
I made up the whole little story bout the "Grennich Guevara's" cause I thought it finally deserved an explanation. If there was another story bout them oh well..   
The woman in China..she'll be used throughout this story, as a sub plot..I only showed a bit of Cree's life in the brothel..and felt it needed to be told more.  
  
Logan wasn't in this part, but he was mentioned, and he'll come in the next part..So will Jondy and the rest of them..  
  
Songs used:  
  
"Never Gonna Get It (My Lovin)" (En Vogue)  
  
"Angel" Sara McLaughlin   
  
R/R please 


	5. Click

Chapter 5- "Click"  
  
A/N: now that I'm done with my papers, go me, I have more time for fanfic. I titled this chapter what it is because people say when you establish a connection with something there is something that "clicks" inside..so it fit.  
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS, CALIFORNIA  
  
"Okay guys, wrap it up. The point of no return has already passed" Sam walked around the desk of her students. Sam looked at each one, examining it with a precise eye that came from years of teaching, but more from who she was, before Sam. The identity that she really was. No Sam Locke even existed.  
  
"Ahh come one Ms. Sam!" Derek, another student of hers complained. "I need more time to perfect my skills"  
  
/"Jondy!" Zack yelled at her from his spot hidden in the brush. His breath was visible in the cold winter air. "Move!" his eyes scanned over to Max who was still regaining her bearings from falling in the ice.  
  
Jondy didn't even get to look at Max again before she took off in a sprint./  
  
"Boy you'd need the whole year to get past stick figure stage" she threw him a joke, he was a big boy, wore big boy pants, he could take it.  
  
Her students shared a laugh at that while putting together their things. "See ya Monday guys, have a good weekend" she watched each of her students pass her desk, including Jade  
  
"Your sis coming by to pick you up after school?"  
  
"Yeah" Jade replied  
  
"Must be nice to have a big sister like that" Jondy stated  
  
"Great" Jade replied "What about you Ms. Sam?" she adjusted the strap on her messenger bag "You never told us if you had any brothers or sisters"  
  
/Ben made shadow puppets on the wall above Max's bunk. She and Jondy were sitting together on the floor smiling silently watching Ben's hands. Tinga watched from her bunk with Syl. And Zack, ever the protector was watching the door to make sure no guards were coming./  
  
"I have a few"  
  
"Brothers?" Jade wanted to know "Or sisters?"  
  
"Both" Jondy answered back "Was tight just like you with one sistah in particular, we were almost the same age-"  
  
/Max and Jondy laughed between themselves watching the imaginative patterns Ben was creating with his hands on the wall/  
  
"Was?" Jade was confused "You don't see her anymore?"  
  
"It's been a while"  
  
This was something that Jade could understand. She had just gotten to see Cree after three years of thinking she was dead, she knew that feeling very well. "My sister went missing three years ago-"  
  
Jondy's eyes got bigger "You don't hafta tell me Jade-"  
  
"It's okay" Jade told her "Her old boyfriend kidnapped her, sold her off somewhere. But she's home now, takin' it one day at a time-" she looked up to Jondy "Hope you didn't go through something like that Ms. Sam"  
  
"No" Jondy replied "Not that bad, we just haven't met up in while-"  
  
/"Will we ever meet up again Zack?" Jondy finally caught up with him  
  
He turned to her quickly "We can't. It will compromise safety." He ran ahead of her then, without saying anything more./  
  
*The lights go out and I can't be saved  
Tides that I tried to swim against  
Have brought me down upon my knees  
Oh I beg, I beg and I plead*  
  
"Miss her the same though?" Jade asked, in more of a statement then a question.   
  
"Yeah-" Jondy told her honestly. Screw Manticore, she was going to feel things.  
  
*Come out of the things unsaid  
Shoot an apple off my head  
And a trouble that can't be named  
A tiger's waiting to be tamed*  
  
"Go see her sometime Ms. Sam" Jade told her teacher straight out "Speaking from experience, it hurts like a bitch to be apart for so long with someone you're close to"   
  
"Take it into consideration" Jondy answered back, forcing a smile "Have a good weekend girl"  
  
"You too," Jade smiled back and headed towards the door.   
  
*Confusion that never stops  
The closing walls and the ticking clocks  
Gonna come back and take you home  
I could not stop, that you now know  
Singing come out upon my seas  
Cursed missed opportunities  
Am I a part of the cure  
Or am I part of the disease*  
  
Jondy turned and stared at the image she painted of the forest surrounding Manticore. She had no picture to work off of. They spend so much time there she could walk through it blindfolded without missing a step. Sometimes she and Max would sneak away after bunk checks, and just sit out there looking at the stars, thinking, about life, genetics, whatever they could cram into fifteen minutes before they had to slip back or risk interrogation and discipline the next morning.  
She sat on top of her desk, just staring at the picture.   
  
"Maxie.."  
  
*Singing  
You are, you are  
You are, you are  
You are, you are  
You are, you are  
And nothing else compares  
And nothing else compares  
And nothing else compares  
And nothing else compares  
You are, you are  
Home, home where I wanted to go  
Home, home where I wanted to go*  
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS POLICE DEPARTMENT  
45TH PRECINCT  
NARCOTICS DIVISION  
  
"This can't be Cree" Detective Max DeLuca, the once green, but still handsome cop looked at Cree in amazement. He had last seen her three, almost four ago, when she was fourteen. She had been a nice kid, funny, smart, confident like most teens. But now, she still was young but she had grown up. She now caught the Detective's eyes on more then just the idea of her being a cute kid. He would never act on it, he was married, and he thought of Cree as a baby sister. But she sparked something in him now that he was sure she got from other men. There was also something in her eyes, a hardness that made her look older then her years, more wise, but someone who had to suffer to become that way. It was her gaze, her eyes that Detective DeLuca noticed the most. She wasn't a girl anymore.   
  
DeLuca smiled warmly and embraced Cree "Girl you grew up on me"  
  
"You did too Max" Cree pulled back from the hug "See they let you out of diapers"  
  
DeLuca laughed at that "Yeah I got my official big boy underwear after that drug raid." He looked over at Ming who was listening to the conversation from the other side of the detective's oak desk.  
  
Cree observed him as he sat on the edge of his desk, almost like an over paid actor on some cop show who would act all ass kicking tough in front of the cameras but would send his stunt double for the chase scenes, not be like ACUTAL cops who couldn't just pull a body double out of their bag of tricks to do their job for them. The analogy stopped short of that promise land though, DeLuca was the real, gritty, compassionate ass kicking deal. He was also handsome. He had filled out from the last time she had scene him, more upper body muscle. Like Cree guessed was under all those designer shirts Logan always wore judging by what she saw beneath the cotton.   
  
"You're married?" Cree asked a rhetorical question. She had seen the gold band on his left hand. It was just a way to get him to talk about it.   
  
"Yeah" DeLuca took the bait "Stella, she's great. I met her at a shop of 52ND Ave. She repairs bikes, regular ones like ten speed, mountain kind. Went in there to get my chain guard replaced and was never the same"   
  
"You have any kids?"  
  
"Not yet. Stella has four god children and two nephews though, so we don't miss out much." He paused "But enough with me." He looked at her differently this time "How've you been?"  
  
"Strivin' for the good days" she answered him honestly. She could see concern on the detective's face "But I've had more and more good days"   
  
"Guess you're not seeing that boyfriend anymore" he was careful and hesitant in his words. Ming had filled him on the police report version of Cree's ordeal for the past three years. He had done dozens of domestic violence calls, but he couldn't even imagine what living what she went through was like.  
  
"Deciding that dumping his ass was the thing to do after he got his money's worth from me" her words were hard, but not cold, letting DeLuca know that it was okay for him to inquire about the subject. "Seein' someone else though" the words came tumbling out. He didn't ask, but she decided to go on that way, play catch up. A lot had changed since they last met. "His name's Ty"  
  
"Cool." DeLuca tried to hide the tone in his voice under his words. He protected Cree like a little sister, and as a pseudo big brother he didn't want her to be hurt by shit boys again with open ended, half assed promises of love and devotion. "What's he do?" if he had a job he could be more easily watched, deadbeats had more shadow coverage.   
  
"He's a fireman"  
  
DeLuca had to admit to himself that was impressive. There were some crooked guys in every department, but most men in those kinds of jobs were on the level. "Here in LA?"  
  
"No" Cree corrected "Seattle"  
  
"Seattle?"  
  
"Yeah" Cree started to elaborate more "After my-" a hesitant pause "ordeal, this girl and her friend took me in, set me up with a job. Mom found me about a month afterwards. They got to be my friends, and Ty-" she was in love with him, and it showed in her voice. "I met him one night and, that was it" she smiled at the hidden meaning of her words.  
  
DeLuca smiled back, getting it. His eyes glanced over to Ming, who was still listening. "You give him the once over officer?"  
  
Ming smiled too "On the ball detective. Twenty-three. One night in juvy when he was twelve for being with a group of kids who threw rocks at an old lady's window. No major convictions. Smart, hard worker, down to earth."  
  
"Got a copy of that profile for Max to sign mom?"   
  
"She can't help being a cop Cree" DeLuca informed   
  
"Or a mom" Ming added  
  
Cree checked her watch "Damn, I gotta go Max" she looked again to the man in front of her. /He turned out nice after all, but he has a wife, and I have Ty/ "I'm picking up Jade from school."  
  
"It was great seein' you again sweetie" DeLuca pulled Cree into a hug "Don't be a stranger okay?"  
  
"I won't Detective" she pulled back and turned around, leaving the small area DeLuca claimed as his own.  
  
"Hey Max" another officer approached DeLuca "Who was that?"  
  
"Amston's oldest daughter" DeLuca responded  
  
"Cree?" the other cop sounded amazed, watching the retreating figure of a fellow officer and her daughter. "When did she grow up?"  
  
"She went through hell for the past three years Steve" DeLuca reminded "She kinda had too"   
  
Steve's expression changed "Yeah, bad rap for her, don't know how she managed to live through it. But I can't help it man, she still looks nice"   
  
"Hey, that's my baby sister you're talking about Steve" DeLuca reminded   
  
"You can still claim her as your pseudo sister DeLuca" Steve told him "But she's not a baby anymore"  
  
"She has a boyfriend Steve, so you should tone it down."   
  
"Fine" Steve finally agreed "Guess it's back to the grind, and me to the singles bars"  
  
"You'll find someone man" DeLuca analyzed "You just gotta look around more"  
  
"Stella have any sisters?"  
  
"Forget it man" DeLuca joked "I can barely stand you at work, I don't want you and I to also be related"  
  
Steve laughed "Get back to the grind yourself Detective DeLuca. This ain't no cake walk" he turned, heading back to his own desk.  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON  
MAX AND CINDY'S APARTMENT  
7:54 PM  
  
"Set to go?" Max poked her head into the bathroom she and Cindy shared.  
  
"Gotta give me one more second suga" Cindy continued lining her eyes in black liner "Not all of us are blessed with being a revved up super fine momma who don't need to primp that much" she finished her task and replaced the lid on the liner.   
  
Cindy turned to look at Max "Nice boo, real nice"   
  
"Thanks" Max stated, she had on a red tank top over her velvet pants and leather jacket. "Your dishin' it out as well" she admired Cindy's leather pants and dark black halter top.   
  
"Appreciate it boo" Cindy set down the liner she had been using. She smiled "Cree left this here, she could do great things with smoky eyes."   
  
Max smiled too. "Hope she's doin' okay"  
  
"They say no news is good news" Cindy informed "Figure she needs time to recoup. No girl gets outta a hell like the one she escaped from and is all ideal in the aftermath." She paused for a moment "still miss her though"  
  
"Me too" Max informed, "Say we party in her honor?"   
  
"Down with me girl" Cindy agreed, stepping out of the bathroom "Speaking of down, you had a good time with your man last night?"  
  
"Yeah loads" Max lied "seizures make for the best evening"   
  
"Boo O.C. don't like to see you down and out, but it sho' is nice to know that you were with a man who knows how to take care of a woman, sick or jivin' "  
  
"And you didn't like him at first" Max reminded   
  
"How was I suppose to know?" Cindy returned the fire, "I wouldn't be talkin' Ms. "I don't understand those women who say they need a man to make themselves feel complete"   
  
Max's expression changed, she had been caught. She was in an uncertain place there, I mean more uncertain then normal.   
  
"But its all good boo" Cindy went on "I'm not into the boys, but glad you shacked up with one who seems to know what he's doing."   
  
"Some times" Max joined in the conversation. "No man knows completely what a woman wants."  
  
*You could buy me diamonds   
You could buy me pearls   
Take me on a cruise around the world   
Baby you know I'm worth it*  
  
"Least he tries boo" Cindy informed "Hard. Specially with you as the woman" she smiled again "But somethin' tells me he's up for it"  
  
*Dinner lit by candles  
Run my bubble bath   
Make love tenderly to last, to last   
Cause baby you know I'm worth it  
  
Wanna please wanna keep wanna treat your woman right   
Not just dough but to show that you know she is worth your time   
You will lose if you chose to refuse to put her first   
She will if she can find a man who knows her worth*  
  
Max smiled at this "Should get going"  
  
"Yep, can't keep Logan waitin'" Cindy walked past her friend, ignoring her expression.   
  
*Mmm   
Cause a real man, knows a real woman when he sees her   
And a real woman knows a real man ain't afraid to please her   
And a real woman knows a real man always comes first   
And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth*   
  
*****  
  
CRASH   
  
Max heard Logan come up behind her, but her sense of touch got the treat when she felt him kiss the exposed side of her neck.   
  
"I'll accept that as a greeting" Max turned to him, smelling the clean, manly fragrant smell that accompanied Logan everywhere he went.   
  
"I'm glad" he smiled at her "Cause it was non refundable" he kissed her again, this time on the mouth. Her smell was like that of ripe peaches in the summer time. Her mouth tasted of coffee creamer. Peaches and cream, a sense tingling combination.  
  
*Let me tell you what I wanna do  
Let me show you that I'm feelin' you  
Wanna sex, wanna ride with you  
Wanna taste, wanna put my lips all over you  
Can't get enough of you  
Always taken of you  
So sweet, so very wet  
So good, girl you make me sweat  
Girl I'm talkin' 'bout  
Peaches and cream  
I need it cause you know that I'm a fiend  
Gettin' freaky in my Bentley limousine  
It's even better when it's with ice cream  
Know what I mean  
Peaches and cream*  
  
"Gotta give each other a chance to breathe ya'll" Cindy made them break apart, but slowly. She had a smiled plastered across her entire face. "Wanna sit down Logan?" she patted an empty bar stool next to her.   
  
Logan didn't say a word, sliding into the empty seat.  
  
"Doin' aiight boo?" the smile on Cindy's face was still there. "Even though I can kinda already tell"  
  
This time Logan smiled too. "I'm good Cindy" he turned to her "You?"  
  
"Can't complain. I'll go round us up a pitcher."  
  
"I'll do that" Max stood back up and went to go grab the beer.  
  
"You and my girl Logan" Cindy told him after Max was gone "Nice thing"  
  
"Yeah" Logan looked over at her waiting for her pitcher, his eyes went from her long brown hair down to her toned torso underneath her tank top, lower to her ass and down her shapely legs.  
  
"Check out time?" Cindy couldn't help but smile.   
  
Logan looked at her sheepishly.  
  
"Hey honey" a man leaned over the bar, looking at Max "How bout a free round for me?"   
  
Max ignored him.  
  
"Come on baby" he grabbed her arm.  
  
/Oh HELLL NO/ "You wanna retract that" she shoved him back, picking up her pitcher.  
  
"Baby you no you want it" he pulled something out of his pocket.   
  
Max felt something prick the skin on her exposed shoulder. It surprised her so much that she dropped the pitcher, shattering it to pieces on the floor. It felt like a mosquito bit her, but it couldn't be they were inside, and it was too cold for them now.  
  
"Hey man, what's with the lady?"  
  
"She just had too much-" the man was now holding onto Max, claiming her being drunk to the bar keep.   
  
The sound of the pitcher breaking drew Logan's attention. "What the hell?" he was out of his seat when Cindy looked as well   
  
"Max-" she stood up also.  
  
"Hey!" Logan shoved by a few unhappy bar patrons. He grabbed a hold of the guy who was leaning over Max, shoving him away.   
  
"Max" he leaned over her, touching her neck, feeling for a pulse. Cindy pushed her way through the crowd, and knelt down. She wasn't responding to anything. He noticed a tiny red mark above her shoulder "She's been injected with something" he rubbed the spot with his finger.  
  
"Like some kind of rape sleeper drug?" Cindy's voice was pissed.  
  
Logan whirled around to the man he had pushed away "What the hell did you give her?"  
  
"Nothing man" the man played innocent "she just had one too many-" he made the motion of someone drinking a bottle with his right hand. Logan grabbed him in one fast movement and slammed him into the bar, punching him square on the face. He left him alone then, and knelt back down next to Max. "Let's take her back to my place" he told Cindy, picking up the unconscious form of his girlfriend "I'll call Sam from there. I don't know what affects these things have on her genes"  
He pushed his way through the crowd with Max in his arms and Cindy following behind. The people broke apart like the Red Sea with Moses.   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOUS   
  
Jondy got a sudden jolt through her, like she had been punched by Deck. She almost lost her grip on the coffee cup, causing some of it to spill on the booth's table.  
  
"Sam you all right?" the waitress hovered above Jondy with a refill for her coffee. She was a regular at the small diner on the way to her job and coming home.   
  
"Yeah" she looked up to the woman "Just one of those days"  
  
"Sorry girl" Sara, the waitress informed, "Refill?"  
  
Jondy nodded, watching as her cup was filled again with black coffee.  
  
"Thanks" she smiled to Sara who responded in kind and left.  
  
Something felt wrong. Ever since meeting Jade's sister Jondy was getting all these feelings. Something she hadn't had since Manticore, the feeling she got when Max was in trouble. Manticore had no twins in its creations, no direct monozygotic or dizygotic babies given birth at once by one woman during a single labour. They were all born one at a time. But with Max, she didn't know if it was because she had been created from the same woman's ova, but she felt a connection with her more then the others. They were inseparable as children, and could sense when the other was in trouble the way identical twins could. Jondy and Max earned the nickname of "twins" in their unit because of their seemingly psychic ability to tell when something was wrong with the other. It was that feeling that led Jondy to discover Max had fallen through the ice that night.   
She reached around the back of her neck and ran her fingers over the barcode printed there.   
  
/"X5-210!" her drill instructor shouted right at her "Confirm the location of 452"  
  
"Unknown Sir" Jondy answered crisply "Presumed she would be here"  
  
"Well it was a wrong presumption soldier!" the drill sergeant barked at her. "She has thirty minutes to make it here or spend the remaining day in the VC unit"/   
  
/"Zack!" Jondy hugged him, and looked him over. He had grown so much. At 21 he was far different then the boy she remembered.  
  
Zack didn't return the hug "Were you followed?"  
  
Jondy shook her head "I was careful." She tried to contain her excitement at seeing him after all these years. "Have you found any of the others? Do you know where they are? Where Maxie is?"  
  
Zack shook his head "I can't contact the whole fucking world Jondy, or they would be sought out"  
  
"You found me" Jondy informed  
  
"Only because you sought me out Jondy"/  
  
"Sam-SAM!"   
  
Jondy snapped out of her thoughts.  
  
"You sure you're okay?" Sara was looking at her concerned.  
  
"I'm good" Jondy informed, "Just wiped out, need to head home."  
  
"All right" Sara didn't sound too convinced, but she went along anyway.   
  
Jondy paid for her coffee and left, waving goodbye to Sara, who waved back.   
  
******   
  
BANGKOK CHINA  
  
She woke up from her dream, it was so real, she had escaped and had been taken away, to the States by her brother who lived there. When she woke though, she was still in chains.   
It was darker now, and her son was long gone. He had been taken while she slept, bastards. His tears had dried on her bare chest.  
  
She jerked her arms angrily at her situation. A loud creak was heard. After years of neglect the bed she was chained to gave way. In a flurry of movements she yanked herself free, the cuffs and chains still dangling from her wrists.   
The door opened, the noise had attracted attention. "BITCH!"  
She freed her legs, and ran with everything she had. She made it to the outside. Shots were fired at her from a .22, the same one that killed her other son. A bullet hit her neck. She dropped, but only for an instant, and kept running. She screamed for her son who appeared to her from a second story window.  
  
"Mama!"  
  
She stopped "Baby jump! I'll catch you!" he was pulled inside by another man.  
She called out to him, but heard the gun go off again. She ran, she wanted to go back for her son. But if she was killed there would be no one to protect him. So she ran, to save his life, not even knowing if it would work.  
  
*I don't know, only God knows where the story ends for me But I know where the story begins, its up to us to choose Whether we win or lose And I choose to win*   
  
The bullets kept coming, she fell into a filthy puddle on the street, picked herself up and kept running. Ahead of her lay an open livestock trailer with chickens inside She ran as fast as she could and lifted her body inside. The chickens squawked, she quietly lowered herself behind a cage, praying that the driver didn't hear them or see her in there.  
  
*No more pain (no more pain)  
No more game (tired of your playin' game with my mind)  
No drama (no more drama in my life)  
No more, no more, No more, no more  
No more tears (no more tears, no more cryin every night)  
No more fears (no more waking be up in the morning, with those disturbing   
phone calls. Leave me alone go ahead. Hey-ay-yeah)  
No more in my life*  
  
The door to the trailer was hitched and the engine started, moving the truck forward. She bumped along in the back tears running down her face, splashing right into the chicken mess that was on the floor of the truck under her bare feet. She had no idea how far she would go, how far away she would be taken away from her son. Her neck ached terribly from the gunshot wound She looked out the slats in the trailer, trying to remember each thing they passed so she would be able to find him again.   
  
*Oh no, no more, no no more, no more drama, No more drama, in my, in my life..*  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE WASHINGTON LOGAN'S APARTMENT   
  
Sam checked the pulse of the unconsciousness woman on Logan's bed. It was still sluggish from the drugs in her system. Her breathing had slowed down too, but it wasn't in a deeply dangerous range. He removed the stethoscope piece from her chest. Looking up he could see Logan watching him from the doorway.  
  
Sam took out the ear pieces of the stethoscope and walked over to Logan, seeing Cindy standing near them listening in the living room.   
  
"You were right about the drugs Logan." Sam told him "I found residue of Rohypnol near the injection site on her shoulder."  
  
"I thought it was only created in pill form"   
  
"In most cases yes" Sam agreed "But there is a liquid form that unfortunately more and more rapers use because of the faster affect it has due to it being able to be directly injected into a blood vessel. I can't say exactly, but there must have been about 2 cc's inside the syringe device. On cc of this stuff could put a woman out for at least eight hours. Two could send her into a drug induced coma"  
  
"Will she be okay then?" Logan broke in, completely concerned. He didn't like Sam's words.  
  
"Her body metabolizes substances different then ours, so it most like counter attacked the drug from reaching that point. Her reflex responses, heart rate and breathing aren't in the comatose range, they are slow, but more like someone whose under sedation in an OR or took a sleeping pill. So she should come out of it by early tomorrow morning I suspect. Someone just needs to watch her tonight to make sure her breathing doesn't change."   
  
"Don't worry about that Sam" Cindy told him  
  
Sam touched Logan on the shoulder "She'll be fine. Just stay with her tonight to give both of you piece of mind."  
  
After Sam left Cindy came inside the bedroom, observing Max, who appeared just to be sleeping on the bed. But it bothered her, Max didn't sleep that much, and she was never that serene in real life.  
  
"So she'll be okay?" Cindy asked, not sure  
  
"Sam said it would be fine" Logan was trying to convince himself of that as well. He sat on the bed and held one of her hands. He looked over to Cindy "Go home, you look like you need the sleep. I'll call you if anything happens."   
  
Cindy looked hesitant for a moment "Kay, the SECOND something goes down Logan give me a ring" she walked over to Max and kissed her cheek "later boo"   
  
Logan turned to Max after Cindy left, and touched her forehead with one hand. She looked so peaceful, but he knew it was an false induced peace. She didn't ask for it. "I'm so sorry this happened" he kissed her forehead. She didn't move. Like before he removed her shoes and covered her with the comforter.   
  
*I know I can be afraid  
but I'm alive  
And I hope that you trust this heart  
behind my tired eyes*   
  
He shut off all the lights but one small beside lamp and climbed in beside her. Gently lifting her up he laid her head on his chest and laid back against the cushions, putting one hand on her collarbone to keep tabs on her breathing during the night.   
  
*I know I'm not around each night  
and I know I always think I'm right  
I can believe that you might look around*  
  
He lightly rubbed the injection mark on her shoulder "I'll get the shit back for what he did to you" he kissed the top of her head, preparing to wait until she opened her eyes again.   
  
*I'm no angel, but please don't think that I won't try and try  
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I can't live my life?  
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I can't cry  
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I won't fly?*  
  
*****   
  
long chapter for ya. That part at the end was done for my M/L side, since I didn't have that much of it in the last chapter. Also it was to draw awareness to Rohypnol, a date rape drug. It comes in pill form and can be dissolved into a drink when a girl leaves it alone. This is a warning to all girls and women to be careful when they go out clubbing. NEVER leave your drink unattended, it's a simple thing that could very well save your dignity and your life.   
  
The woman in China's escaped..I didn't have her run with her child..that would be ideal, and it don't always work out that way.  
  
And Jondy's psychic thing. She and Max have been made up as the close siblings, almost like twins, and this is a phenomenon that happens with twins.  
  
Finally the songs that I used are (used a lot this time)  
  
Jade talking to Jondy scene- "Clocks" (Cold Play)  
  
Cindy talking to Max about Logan "A Woman's Worth" (Alicia Keys)  
  
Logan kissing Max at Crash- "Peaches and Cream" (112)  
  
Woman running from her pimp in Bangkok "No More Drama" (Mary J. Blige)  
  
Logan taking care of Max in last scene-"No Angel" (Dido)  
  
R/R please  
  
I'll pump out more later...  
  
~mystic 


	6. Razor Wire

Chapter 6- "Razor Wire"  
  
A/N: title is a spin on the saying "walking a thin line" meaning that you could fall on either side of it, and maybe die or loose face in the process. Razor wire is that thin, so hence the title.  
  
*****  
  
LOS ANGELOS   
  
"Ty?" Cree held the cordless phone to her ear, leaning back against the pillows on her bed. Jade was still at school and both her parents were still at work.   
  
"Hey" there was some jostling on his end   
  
"Hey yourself"   
  
"How've you been?"  
  
"Aiight" she told him "You?"  
  
"Making my existence memorable"  
  
"I'll bet"  
  
He smiled from his end. "Your friend Max told me to say 'hey'"  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"She's fine."  
  
"And Logan and Cindy?"  
  
"What do I look like their momma? I guess they're good too."  
  
"Glad to hear it"  
  
"So-- what are you wearing?"  
  
"Ty-"  
  
*It's the B to the O-W   
Wow even your girl fall in love   
When I smile   
The tight little guy you ain't seen in a while   
Ignore the hype, just right for you size*  
  
"Hey what? C'mon it's the only thing that keeps me going since you're not here"  
  
"You really wanna know?"  
  
"Hell yeah"   
  
"Black track pants and a gray and red baseball shirt."   
  
"Damn, that's my sexy momma"  
  
*All I wanna do is see ya  
Bounce with me, bounce with me   
Grab a partner hit the floor   
Bounce with me, bounce with me   
Some clap, clap others stomp   
But around here we get it crunk when ya   
Bounce with me, bounce with me*  
  
"Ty you're a dork"   
  
"What you don't think that your outfit's smoking?"  
  
"Okay now you sound gay"   
  
"If you were here I would prove to you that I'm not-" he broke off. He always was very careful when talking to her about sex. He didn't want to rush her because of what she went through. "Sorry. I got carried away"  
  
"It's coo'" she told him "Kinda carrying away I like"   
  
"How's your mom?"  
  
"She's good. She's at work."  
  
"Kinda mom I'd like to have. Great for scaring the piss outta bullies."  
  
"Ty you're twenty-two, tellin' me you still have bullin' wallin' on you?"   
  
"You have a black belt" he reminded, "You could protect me"  
  
"Oh I'll protect you"  
  
*I, I, I wanna see you bounce with me now   
Take, take, take it down to the ground with me now   
Shake, shake, shake it all around the town with me now   
What'cha gon do shorty, what'cha gon do*   
  
"That's my girl."   
  
"Again I say you're a dork"  
  
"But ya love me anyways right?"  
  
She shook her head, but smiled "Yeah I do"   
  
There was some more noise on the other end "Look I gotta go. It's my turn to cook dinner for the guys."  
  
"Aiight. Don't kill anyone."  
  
"Do my best"  
  
"Talk to ya later honey buns."  
  
"Take care angel pie."   
  
"Cree-"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I love you"  
  
A pause   
  
"Cree? Hello?"  
  
"Yeah me too."  
  
*Click*  
  
*****   
  
CHINA  
UNKNOWN DISTRICT   
  
The truck finally came to a halt two hours later, jolting the chickens and the woman out of their slumber. For the chickens, this action caused them to start squawking, but the woman remained silent. She had no idea if whoever was driving this truck would receive her with open arms, and she didn't want to know.  
They were from moderate lives, like her own previous existence. She looked like a hooker, smelled and felt like a hooker, and because of people's need for money, they might just return her to her pimp, or worse yet the Chinese police for money.  
  
The back flatbed door opened, and she heard voices  
  
"200 plus chickens, and only four hundred yen. How will I feed even myself with that little shit?"  
Him and one other man climbed into the back of the truck to start unloading the chicken carriers.   
  
The birds continued squawking and she heard them coming closer to where she was crouched. She was as caged as one of the chickens in those wire cages. She heard the footsteps of one of the men come within three inches of her, and the surprised voice followed  
  
"What the hell?" a flashlight dropped.  
  
She made her move then, using the darkness as a cloak, shoving her way forward out of the truck.  
  
"What in the fuck is this?" the man watched the woman sprint off shoving past him  
  
*How can you see into my eyes   
Like open doors.  
Leading you down into my core   
Where I've become so numb.  
Without a soul  
My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold   
Until you find it there and lead it back home*  
  
She ran, her bare feet hitting everything that was cold and broken and dirty on the road. She fell once, her injury being ground into the filth. It stung like hell, but she still ran, didn't even know where she was going.  
  
*Wake me up.  
Wake me up inside.   
I can't wake up.   
Wake me up inside.   
Save me.   
Call my name and save me from the dark*  
  
*****   
UNITED STATES  
SEATTLE  
LOGAN'S APARTMENT  
7:00 AM  
  
*Wake me up.   
Bid my blood to run.   
I can't wake up.   
Before I come undone.   
Save me.   
Save me from the nothing I've become*  
  
Max had been completely still throughout the night. But now she seemed to becoming around, struggling to wake up.  
  
Logan stroked her face. "It's okay, you're okay. Wake up Max."   
  
= = = =   
  
(Max's dream sequence)  
  
(Setting: woods surrounding Manticore)   
  
Her lungs had endured far worse then the running she was doing now, but it never burned as much. Falling through the icy waters weakened her slightly.   
  
She didn't see any of the others, they had all run in separate directions, per Zack's order. She heard the "whooshing" sound of the helicopter's blades over head. She managed to stay once step ahead of the floodlights beaming at her from the chopper. Her feet were numb from the snow and ice, but numb was better then pain so she ignored it like she had been trained to do.  
  
She had no idea where the hell she was going, but she kept on. A moving target was harder to trace. And if she stayed stationary in these woods, she could very well freeze to death, or become dinner for the predatory animals that came out at night to hunt.   
  
She saw something in the distance, she ducked down. It was one of her unit. She started to give a call to them, but ground forces from the base surrounded them, and she watched for a second, before running. She didn't even know if they made it out, or who they were, except that they were one of hers.   
  
The cold was biting at her now. She ran into something hard. Looking up for a split second she saw a tree was in her way. She brushed that aside and was ready to take off again, when she felt something snatch her from behind her back.   
  
= = = =   
  
*Now that I know what I'm without  
you can't just leave me.  
Breathe into me and make me real  
Bring me to life*   
  
She awoke suddenly, jerking when she felt something on her.  
  
"Max, Max! Calm down! it's me"   
  
She whipped her head around and met Logan's eyes on her. "Logan?" her voice gave away her confusion "What the hell is going on?"  
  
"What's the last thing you remember?"  
  
She didn't like where this was going. Why was he asking her all these things? "We were at Crash. Some looser was hitting on me-"  
  
"He did more then that"  
  
Max looked at him, demanding an answer to that open ended remark.   
  
His fingers grazed her shoulder "He injected you with some Rohypnol"  
  
She pushed aside his hand and felt the mark for herself "Damn, I was hopin' it was only a mosquito or somethin'" she dropped her hand and turned to look at him "How long was I out?"   
  
"About nine hours"  
  
Max looked shocked "With my screwed up DNA I'm surprised it didn't send me into a coma"  
  
"Why do you think I'm sitting here?" Logan didn't hide the worry in his voice. He had kept tabs on her all night. She had scared him being so quiet.  
  
She sensed his worry. "Good now though."  
  
"Max you're not good after undergoing false sleep." He argued   
  
"I'm awake Logan." She told him "That's better then bein' drugged outta my mind." She stretched "And I'm sore too, damn" she rubbed at her neck "Was I laying on a rake or something?" she stretched again.  
  
"Probably an affect of you laying down so long" he started to rub at her neck at shoulders. "You're not use to being prone for that many hours."   
  
"Feels like an elephant sat on me and kept changing positions." She rolled her head around to work out some of the kinks.   
  
"Why don't you take a hot shower?" he suggested while continuing to massage her "That'll help work out the stiffness."  
  
"What would I wear afterwards?" she asked "Not in the mood for Normal's lectures bout not wearing a shortem towel to work."  
  
He laughed quietly "Give your stuff to me and I'll throw it in the wash while your in the shower. You can wear my robe until everything's clean."  
  
"That'll make me late" she told him flatly "Not that I really care, just not in the mood for Anal Mania this morning"  
  
"I'll get you a doctor's note" he kissed the back of her neck "And it wouldn't even be lying. You were messed up last night" he used one of her phrases.   
  
"Appreciate the props" she told him  
  
"And I'll appreciate it if you get in the shower before my arms wear out"  
  
"Fine" she faked a sigh. "Tell ya it never ends."  
  
He smiled and kissed the back of her head "Don't suck up all my hot water"  
  
"Watch me" she climbed off the bed and retreated to the master bath.  
  
A few seconds later her jeans, tank top and lingerie came flying out the door.   
  
Logan collected the pile of clothes and added a few things of his own to make a full load, heading off to the small service area where he kept his washer and dryer. A good thing about living in a classy penthouse is he had his own hookups for the machines and didn't have to use a coin laundry system.   
  
He threw all the clothes inside, added the right amount of detergent, waiting until he heard the shower start up, and turned the water in the machine to 'cold' so she could have all the hot water for her shower.   
  
/There's no going back now man. You've mixed her laundry with yours./ He closed the lid of the machine just as the phone rang.   
  
He headed back in the living room and picked up the cordless unit  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"Hey Logan, just called for a status report" Cindy was on the other end "Didn't get much sleep last night worryin' bout my girl"  
  
"She woke up about an hour ago" Logan told her the good news "She seems fine, she's complaining of being sore, but I think it's because she's not use to laying down for so long."  
  
"Great to hear" Cindy's voice was relieved "Can I talk to her?"  
  
"Actually she's in the shower" Logan confessed   
  
You could almost hear Cindy's eyebrows raising over the phone "Aiight. I'll catch her at work. Thanks boo" she hung up.  
  
Logan hung up as well. He had nothing to do at the moment, so he busied himself with making some coffee. He knew Max loved two inanimate things above all the others in her life, her motorcycle and her coffee. He set the coffee to percolate and went to check on the status of the laundry. The cycle was almost complete so he hung out around the machine and waited.  
  
"You know if you watch it long enough bet it'll run away" Max was now out of the shower, and standing beside him in his red terry towel robe with her damp hair falling round her shoulders.  
  
The machine's timer buzzed and Logan transferred all the laundry to the drier, adding the sheet and turning it on once the door was closed.   
  
He turned to her, giving her a silent once over. "How was your shower?"  
  
"Nice." She told him "Uneventful." She looked at him "Do I past inspection?"   
  
"Oh you more then past inspection Max" he leaned over and kissed her on the mouth.   
  
"That kiss come with some coffee?"  
  
Logan pulled back "I see how this is going now. You're only using me for my caffeine."  
  
"Fraid so" she returned  
  
"Coffee's in the kitchen"  
  
"Great" she smiled "And this coffee thing wouldn't be as good if I didn't have such a good supplier" this time she kissed him before heading off to retrieve her caffeine sustenance.   
  
"Cindy called while you were in the shower" he watched her jump up and sit on top of the counter coffee cup in hand and was amazed that she still managed to keep the robe covering all the right places. Not that he would have minded seeing what was underneath his robe, he had his addictions too-Max. "She said she'd catch you at work."  
  
Max gave an approving nod to his remark while taking a sip from the mug in her hands. "You know she's gonna be asking me bout what went down here."  
  
"I didn't say a word"  
  
"Yeah but you have that look"  
  
"What look?"  
  
"That 'I know something on the DL' look you always get when you try to hide stuff from me"  
  
"Max there was no look"  
  
"You also suck at lying, so don't even try it"   
  
"I don't suck at lying"  
  
"Sound like its your second job" she took another swig from her cup "Aiight, give me a lie. See if you can do what you claim."  
  
"That robe is terrible on you"  
  
"See?" she pointed out "You suck at lying"  
  
"Who said I was lying?"  
  
She glared at him "If this robe is so bad on me how bout I take it off?"   
  
"Well I can't lie there and say that it wouldn't be a good thing"   
  
*I taste just like candy, candy  
I taste just like candy  
So dance with me*   
  
One of Max's eyebrows rose higher then it's sistah, and she smiled like she had just eaten an incredibly indulging light trapping, sugar loaded piece of milk chocolate.   
  
"You're tryin' to seduce me aren't ya?"  
  
"Who me? No" Logan feigned innocence, but his eyes gave it away.   
  
*Yo now let me paint y'all a whisper  
Fox pimp hard, quiet just like a whisper  
Don't get it mixed up  
Bad little sista  
Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good  
Damn I'm so hood  
You should see me in them jeans  
It's hard to describe and  
Being cocky is just a part of the vibe*   
  
"It wouldn't be right" he didn't sound completely convinced about what he was saying, "You just got over being sick-"  
  
"I'm fine now" she told him, leaving it at that, letting him use his own imagination to fill in the rest. Her cat like eyes were on him the entire time.  
  
He smiled "Don't you hafta go to work?"  
  
She just looked at him "You're the one who said I should take my time."   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS   
  
"Nice" Jondy looked at her student's painting "REAL nice girl"  
  
Jade smiled "Thanks"   
  
Jondy returned the smile and continued to walk down the row. A few seconds later the bell rang  
  
"Okay guys, that's it for now" Jondy watched all her students leave. Something weird came over her when she watched some of the boys leave, like it had just gotten hotter in the room all of a sudden.  
  
"Ms. Sam?" Jade looked at her "You okay?"  
  
Jondy turned her head "Yeah, yeah, I just-never mind. Get outta here and have a life"   
  
Jade smiled "Kay, see ya tomorrow"   
  
"Yeah" Jondy told her. She was still watching the boys in her class leave.  
  
"Ms. Locke"   
  
She turned, to see a fellow teacher there, a man not much older then herself.  
  
"Hey David" 'Sam' waved at him "Why so formal?" she walked over to him and was assaulted with a pungy aroma, an overpowering smell. But it wasn't his cologne or aftershave. It was something stronger.   
  
"Sorry-" Jondy broke David out of his talking "What?"  
  
David looked at her "are you okay Sam? You seemed far away there"  
  
The smell was always there, becoming stronger as he moved "I'm fine. Just been a long first day of the week" she noticed the Adam's apple in his neck move with each breath.   
  
David smiled "Hear that all right" He checked his watch "Well I have to get to a meeting" he looked up "see ya around"  
  
"Bye" Jondy watched him leave, feeling the overpowering urge to go follow him, not to talk, but to find the origin of that distracting smell. She grabbed her keys and her jacket and left the classroom intending on going home. She headed out of the building and down the stairs to her bike, a studio yellow Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R. She slid the jacket on her body, and caught a whiff of the smell again. Stronger this time, triple fold then what she experienced with David.   
  
She turned around, and she saw someone standing there, looking at her from the brick wall of the school. Wearing leather and a ski cap covering his hair. He looked like he could be one of her students, almost except he was a few years older. Against her will she headed over to him. He didn't moved, watching her approach with every step.   
  
"Hey" she smiled a lazy smile at him  
  
Whoever he was, he didn't speak, just continued to watch her silently  
  
"Ya like spoonin' up with cats" she traced his face with a sensual hand before attacking him, slamming him against the wall and kissing him hotly.   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
"NON EXISTANT BROTHEL"   
  
"Faster bitch!" the man gasped out to the woman giving him a blow job. He spasmed, but not as much as he would've liked "I said FASTER!" he kicked her in the face, which unfortunately made her bite down on his nuts.  
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS   
  
Finally he started to respond, rolling on top of her and kissing her neck.  
  
She removed her jacket in an art form way and set is beside her. The wall of the school hid them from anyone's view, so no one noticed them back there.   
  
*He was doing 8-0 on the freeway  
In the 6 double O, bumpin Isley  
He was gettin kinda close, kinda touch-ay  
Cuz he had a little too much Hennessey   
He told me that he wanna go home, with me up on the hill to my condo  
Told me he would keep it all on the low-low  
But I told him, "boo, I don't really know though"  
He got closer to me...it started gettin deep  
He had me in a zone when he started to show me things  
I never saw before  
Baby was smooth but I knew it was game  
Hell-of-a cool but you men are the same  
The way he licked his lips and touched my hips  
I knew that he was slick*   
  
Her sweater went the same way as her jacket, and she took his hands and put them on her. She didn't know who he was, just that he was giving her what she wanted. He was kissing her now, on her exposed skin, warm ones. She bit her lip and arched her back, clutching at his hair.   
  
*You make me sick  
I want you and I'm hatin it  
Got me lit like a candlestick  
Get too hot when you touch the tip, I'm feelin it, I gotta getta grip  
And it's drivin me crazy baby don't you quit  
Can't get enough of it  
You got me goin again  
Baby, you got me goin again  
You make me sick*   
  
*****  
  
SEATTLE  
  
"AHH!" he cried and yanked himself out of her mouth. He rubbed his member with one hand. "You scank!" he picked up a lamp and threw it at her. It slammed into the side of her face.   
  
Blood dripped from it as she screamed.   
  
"Girl shut up!" he got up and went over to her and started kicking her, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she eventually stopped screaming.   
  
*Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim   
No matter what you say   
It don't take away the pain   
  
That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies   
Don't nobody know why   
It's the blind leading the blind   
  
I guess that's the way the story goes   
Will it ever make sense   
Somebody's got to know  
  
There's got to be more to life than this   
There's got to be more to everything   
I thought exists*  
  
After he left she felt someone poking at her body with a stick  
  
"She's still alive. Hose her off and put her back with the others, and get dude to give me my money"   
  
*We are, We are, the youth of the nation  
We are, We are, the youth of the nation*   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS  
  
She let got of his hair and gripped the back of his neck. Her face contorted when she felt something there. She turned and looked the mystery man in the eye.  
  
/FLASH: "Move!" he shouted at her, picking her up and forcing her to her feet.  
Jondy ran, looking back at him once more before she lost sight of him./   
  
"Zack?" Jondy got the shock of her life when she realized who was on top of her. She threw him off of her and stood up in a rush, her breathing making her black lace bra move up and down fast.   
  
Zack, who up until then had been 'Mystery Man' stood up. He had also gotten shirtless in their escapade.   
  
Jondy growled and lunged him into the wall again, only this time she did it as a tactful battle move. She kicked up her foot and stuck the bottoms of her black Sketchers right at his throat "Why the fuck didn't you say anything?"  
  
Zack grabbed her foot and shoved her backwards causing her to loose her balance. She hit the ground on her back, but rebounded a few seconds later.   
  
"It would have helped Jondy" Zack growled back  
  
"So you just thought fucking your little sister would be better?"   
  
"Better me then some anonymous prick"   
  
"Better incest then one night stands huh?" she was pissed, and kinda sick, thinking how close she came to having sex with her brother.   
  
"I smelled you" Zack pointed out "I smelled you the same way you smelled me. When girl cats go into heat males smell it too baby sister. That's why they compete for her. But I'll bet I'm the only guy in this whole freakin' city that knows exactly what you want, and will satisfy it"  
  
"I didn't see you winning any trophies back there Zack" Jondy spat "You think I LIKE cuming inside my brother?!? And no man knows what women want" she balled his shirt up and launched it at his head. "Stay the hell away from my personal areas!" she threw on her shirt and reached for her jacket.  
  
"What no welcome wagon?" Zack slid on his long sleeved navy blue cotton shirt  
  
"Bite me!" she growled, flipping him off.   
  
This time Zack grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. "I didn't come all the way out here for this shit"  
  
"Then I suggest you close your mouth before you bid the tides to cum"   
  
Zack released her.  
  
She glowered at him and beat the dirt out of her jacket. She could still smell him, but now the only thing she wanted was a freezing cold shower and get a hold of matches to burn the underwear she was wearing. "What the hell are you even doing here? Thought we would be 'compromised' if any of us met up"   
  
"Told you I'd look out for you remember?"  
  
"But not that you'd look in" she spat back  
  
*We are we are, youth of the nation*  
  
He tried to reach for her "Jondy-"  
  
She slammed his hand down. "Shoulda said THAT before" she walked away, leaving him there.   
  
"How long do you think it'll take before Manticore notices the set up you lied for here?"  
  
She whirled on him "Then why the hell did you come and make it worse?" she came back over to him a little ways "Huh?"   
  
"I came here to tell you something"  
  
"Yeah?" she now stood face to face with him "Well fuck off Zack cause I'm still gettin' over the fact that you tried to hump me" she whirled around and started to walk away.   
  
"I know where Max is"  
  
This stopped Jondy dead in her tracks, she turned completely back around. "How do you know where she is if none of us are suppose to have any contact with each other? That was your game plan remember?"  
  
"I wanted to know that she was safe Jondy."  
  
"Sam"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Sam" Jondy told him "You wanna keep my cover, call me Sam" she paused "Was she safe?"   
  
"As long as she doesn't keep screwing things up"  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"Jondy" he ignored her earlier request  
  
"Oh so you can know where she is but I can't?" she was getting more and more pissed off "She's my sister too Zack. I have a right to know. Has she contacted you?"  
  
"I never gave her the number"  
  
"Why the hell not?"  
  
"She's too reckless."  
  
"What the fuck does that mean? We're all reckless, why we broke out in the first place"  
  
"She's exposed herself too many times Jondy. I can't risk her bringing the others down with her."  
  
"You can't just abandon her Zack. She's our sister. We look after each other." She looked him dead in the eye "I wanna know where she is"  
  
"I can't tell you"  
  
"Then I'll find out another way. You're not the only one with tracking abilities remember? I'm from Manticore too."   
  
*You cross the line and there's no turning back   
Told the world how he felt   
With the sound of a gat   
  
We are, We are, the youth of the nation*   
  
She turned again, and this time, she left.  
*****   
  
CHINA  
  
She finally stopped to rest, her lungs felt like they were going to burst out of her chest. She leaned against an alleyway. Rats scurried around her, some drinking in the puddles. Blood still tricked down her leg from the gunshot wound. Her broken wrist throbbed painfully. She held it with her good hand, biting her lip to keep from screaming.  
  
She smelled worse then the garbage she was leaning against. She rested a weary head against a metal trash can.   
  
*Convinced of my deception  
I've always been a fool  
I fear this love reaction  
Just like you said I would  
  
A rose could never lie  
About the love it brings  
And I could never promise  
To be any of those things*  
  
A few tears splashed down her face. She hadn't even had time to cry. The wound was filthy. She had to shoo a rat away that had climbed on her leg. Her broken wrist throbbed incessantly. She bit her lip to keep from crying out at both pains she was experiencing. There were no stars out. The section of China she was currently in was all industrial, smog covering the sky in a gray starless haze.   
  
*If I was not so weak  
If I was not so cold  
If I was not so scared of being broken  
Growing old  
I would be...  
I would be...  
I would be...*   
  
She missed the way the stars twinkled. She hadn't seen any since moving to the city from her small village. She did what she had to do to survive with her children after the Chinese Police killed her husband in a raid. Her job as a waitress in a bar dive had wound her where she was. She didn't know, she needed the money, she did what she had to do to survive.   
  
*If I was not so weak  
If I was not so cold  
If I was not so scared of being broken  
Growing old  
I would be...  
I would be...  
I would be...  
...Frail*  
*****   
I never intended to have Jondy and Zack have a relationship. That's not how I see it. Zack was, in his own, strange way trying to "aid" her with her problem (meaning her being in heat) But she of course didn't like it. They weren't like that. I did a scene switch back and forth between LA and Seattle to parallel the two scenes.  
  
I'm getting hungry now..but before I go, as usual.  
  
Songs used are:   
  
Ty and Cree talking on the phone- "Bounce With Me" (Lil' Bow Wow)  
  
Scenes in China and Logan's penthouse - "Bring Me to Life" (Evanescence feat. Paul McCoy)  
  
Logan and Max talking in Logan's apartment- "Candy" (Foxy Brown from "Dark Angel" Soundtrack)  
  
Jondy's heat cycle- "You Make Me Sick" (Pink "Save the Last Dance" Soundtrack)   
  
Scene switch from Seattle to LA "Youth of the Nation" (P.O.D)  
  
Woman in alleyway of Bangkok at final chapter scene "Frail" (Jars of Clay)  
  
R/R please  
  
Peace  
Mystic 


	7. YooLanGheeFestival of the Hungry Ghost

Chapter 7-"Yoo-Lan-Ghee" (Festival of the Hungry Ghost)  
  
A/N: "Yoo-Lan-Ghee" is a Chinese festival in which people believe that one particular day the gates of hell open and ghosts wander through the human world. People set specially designed money called "hell money" and other offerings outside their houses to keep the ghosts from coming inside and causing trouble. I used this title because the women being abused in these rings have their own "ghosts" or "demons" they always to keep from coming inside with them.  
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS  
  
MAINTSTEM APARTMENTS  
  
APARTMENT #30  
  
*Its just one of those days  
  
When you don't wanna wake up  
  
Everything is fucked  
  
Everybody sux*  
  
Jondy busted her way through the door to her one bedroom apartment. She slammed it shut, locked it and headed to her tiny kitchen. She opened up her banged up fridge and took out a 20 oz bottle of Jack Daniels. She opened the cap and drank straight from it, leaning against the door of the refrigerator.  
  
While she was drinking she felt something in her clothes. She took one hand and felt between her legs. She swore and threw the whiskey bottle at the wall, smashing it into a million piece of glass.  
  
*You don't really know why  
  
But wanna justify  
  
Rippin' someone's head off  
  
No human contact  
  
And if you interact  
  
Your life is on contract*  
  
She entered her bedroom, and stripped. She headed over, completely naked to her dresser and retrieved a black light. She unearthed her underwear and jeans from the pile of clothes she had made and ran the light over them. There was glowing on the crotch of her pants.  
  
She moved the light over her bare thighs, nothing. Zack must've had his pants down, but she didn't so he started cumming on her clothes. She left the clothes in a pile, except for the pants.  
  
Climbing up on her she deactivated the smoke alarm in the room, then took her pants into the bathroom and chucked them into her trashcan.   
  
After pouring some rubbing alcohol into the can she lit a match from the pack she kept in the vanity's drawer to light candles. She threw it inside the trashcan and watched as the whole thing start to burn.  
  
She reached inside and turned on the shower, to ice cold, thankful this time that the building supplied crappy water heat. She let the fire burn while she was in the shower, scrubbing her skin till it was pink. She cut off the water and wrapped a towel around herself, taking another one and blotting out the remaining fire in the can.  
  
After slipping on some clean clothes, a pair of dark denim low rider flairs and a black muscle tank she threw the entire contents of her bathroom trashcan, including the can itself into a black trash bag and headed outside to put it on the curb.   
  
"Hey Sam, what are you putting out so late?" one of her neighbors was outside by the low chain linked fence that spanned the building, smoking a cigarette.   
  
Jondy chucked the bag on the other side of the fence with the others. "Trash" she told him, heading back inside without saying anything more; feeling his eyes on her as she left.   
  
*Your best bet is to stay away motherf*cker  
  
It's just one of those days!!*   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
LADDER 12  
  
"Hey man shove over" Kenny kicked Ty with his boot.   
  
Ty sat up and slid over to the other side watching Kenny sit in the now vacant spot that his feet were once in.   
  
"So how's that girlfriend of yours?" Kenny asked  
  
"Fine" Ty didn't say anything more.  
  
"JUST fine?" Kenny didn't believe him.   
  
"Yeah man JUST fine" Ty repeated "Is dating women just all about sex?"  
  
"Depends on the woman," Kenny informed   
  
"Cree's not like that" Ty defended   
  
"You mean she's not one of those sl-"  
  
"No!" Ty snapped "You better watch yourself before you shoot your mouth off bout my girlfriend"  
  
"Sorry man" Kenny apologized "I was just messin'. Didn't mean nothin' by it." He turned to get a quick look at the game. Knicks and Lakers. "She seemed cool." He turned back to Ty "Where do you say she lives again?"  
  
"Los Angeles" Ty told him "She went back to spend some time with her family."  
  
"Her mom's a cop right?"   
  
Ty nodded  
  
"Then what does her dad do?"  
  
"I don't know man I never met him"  
  
"You never asked?"  
  
"What for? I don't grill the women I date"  
  
"You know how fathers are with their 'little girls' dating older men."  
  
"I'm only four years older then her Kenny. It's not sagatory or nuthin'"  
  
"You miss her?" Kenny's tone went slightly more serious   
  
"Yeah" Ty answered back quickly.   
  
"I'd miss her too if I had her"   
  
"Glad I have her then" Ty notified  
  
*It's been too long and I'm lost without you  
  
What am I gonna do  
  
Said I been needin' you, wantin' you  
  
Wonderin' if ur the same and who's been with you  
  
Is ur heart still mine  
  
I wanna cry sometimes  
  
I miss you*   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOS   
  
*Now I'm sittin' here  
  
Thinkin' 'bout you  
  
And the days we used to share  
  
It's drivin' me crazy  
  
I don't know what to do   
  
I'm just wonderin' if you still care  
  
I don't wanna let you know   
  
That it's killin' me  
  
I know you got another life you gotta concentrate baby  
  
Come back...to me  
  
Can you...feel me(Callin')  
  
Hear me...callin' (For you)*  
  
Cree was sitting on the couch in her living room watching an old movie with Jade. "Princess Bride" Something she hadn't watched since she was a little girl. Tonight was girls' night in, complete with chick flicks, they also had "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Ever After", and tons of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Jade curled her legs up on the couch.   
  
"Remember when we use to watch this with our Barbie dolls?"  
  
Cree smiled "And you acted out all of Buttercups' scenes with Malibu Barbie"   
  
"Yeah the bikini she wore kinda gave it away that she wasn't Buttercup."  
  
On the screen Buttercup and her prince, played by Carley Ewes, embraced in a passionate kiss.   
  
Jade turned to look at her sister "Wish you and Ty were doin' that right now huh?"  
  
Cree hit Jade with a pillow.  
  
Jade took it off her, still smiling "So yes?"  
  
The credits were now starting to roll on the movie. Jade muted the TV with the remote "Want to put in another one?"  
  
"In a minute" Cree informed. She climbed off the sofa "All this Ben and Jerry's is making me want real food." she stepped over an empty carton of the aforementioned ice cream brand, setting it on the coffee table. She then headed into the kitchen.  
  
"There's still left over Tso chicken in the fridge" Jade announced  
  
"That'll do it" Cree opened the fridge and pulled out the chicken in it's takeout box. "Amazing how we're Chinese and we still eat this kinda stuff." She closed the fridge and started spooning out her prize onto a plate "We should be sick of it by now."   
  
"Yeah but this is America Chinese Food" Jade informed "It's all fast food modernized and greasy."  
  
"Want some?"  
  
"YE-AH" Jade told her "I love fast food modernized and greasy"  
  
Cree got another plate "Gramma would probably put a curse us if she saw us eating this" she put the empty plate beside hers and started spooning more chicken onto it.  
  
"Cree, Gramma can go suck a lemon." Jade threw back "With all that crap that she did to mom, and to dad" she took the plate when Cree handed it to her, sitting at their round wooden pine breakfast table in the kitchen.   
  
Cree sat down beside her sister, silently agreeing.   
  
"Did I hear my name?" Peter came into the kitchen in a gray t-shirt, jeans and socks.   
  
"Your name's not dad," Cree reminded with a smile in between eating her chicken.  
  
Peter picked up a dishrag off the counter and threw it at his daughter. "Guess I can't blame you for the attitude, since it's one of the things I love most about your mom" he reached into the cabinet and retrieved a glass "Mind if I join you ladies?"  
  
"Sure" Jade told her father.  
  
Peter got the rest of the chicken out of the fridge along with a fifteen oz bottle of Barcadi Rum and a can of coke. He mixed the drinks then joined his daughters at the table.  
  
He looked at the bottle of rum for a moment "You didn't drink out of this did you?" he asked Cree. She was his daughter, but three years apart had brought changes to his baby girl that she didn't have before. So in many ways he was just getting to know her again.   
  
Cree shook her head, setting down her fork "I just had coke"   
  
"Oh" Peter took a sip of his drink, eating a bite of chicken soon after "This is good stuff" he leaned back in his chair "Bet it would piss off your gramma though"  
  
"How come gramma never liked you?" Jade asked all of a sudden.  
  
"Who knows really," Peter confessed, "When me and mom were dating she was still with her first husband, and I told myself that your gramma was upset because of that, even though they were going through the motions of a divorce. Mother's always seem more partial to the man that fathers her daughter's children. And even though he was beating on mom gramma still stuck to him. Then she kinda justified it cause I was black, and not Chinese like him." He leaned forward again, resting his elbows on the table "After a while I stopped keeping tabs on it. I loved your mom, and no one could tell me not to."  
  
"Have some more chicken for gramma" Cree said  
  
Peter looked at her and smiled before taking a huge bite out of a larger piece of chicken from the take out box. His expression changed a minute later "You still having bad dreams?"  
  
Cree stared at her dad for the longest time but didn't say anything.  
  
"You know I'm here for you baby," he spoke out "You can tell me--things. We're tight like that, right?"  
  
"Yeah we're tight" Cree reassured. "There's just some things' that are hard to tell, even to your dad."  
  
"You ever tell your boyfriend about this?"  
  
Cree looked up "There are some things I haven't told anybody"  
  
"Hey it's okay" Peter tilted her chin up "You don't have to tell me now."   
  
"But I won't ever have a 'right time' to tell you dad"  
  
"You set your right time baby" Peter reminded he kissed her on the forehead and released her chin.  
  
She looked down at her hands for the longest time "Dad I-" she looked up "I was pregnant" her gaze was sad but unwavering.   
  
Peter was horrified, but he didn't say anything, but this wasn't out of range. She had been through hell "Does mom know?"  
  
Cree shook her head 'no'   
  
"It wasn't your fault" Peter told her "They used you."  
  
"But it was my fault when I tried to take some piping and kill it dad." Her eyes were watering now. "Other girls, they were given all these men, to screw them until they lost their babies"  
  
Peter had to take a moment then and look away. He couldn't bear to think that this happened to his daughter.   
  
"He found me" Cree went on "and I got what I wanted cause he beat me with the pipe. But then he took me to this man, and, I got what I wanted the second time."  
  
"Cree you should see someone about this" Peter told her "Someone who can help you"  
  
"No" Cree shook her head, wiping her eyes "No one would understand dad. No one knows what it was like there." She looked up to him with such anguish that he had never seen it on another human face before that "I'm not afraid to remember it. Or talk about it." She laughed briefly, sniffing "I'm talking right now. But they'll never understand dad. They'll just shove me full of anti depressants and tell me it's 'okay to feel this way'." She looked him dead in the eye "The only ones who can understand me are Them." She pointed into the air as if "them" were sitting there, chained, tortured, raped silently, waiting to be acknowledged. "And They can't talk cause their not even suppose to exist"   
  
"You hafta talk to someone" Peter told her in a soft but firm voice.   
  
"I'm talking to you daddy" she said "I've had enough of talking to strangers. Please?" she hadn't called him 'daddy' in a long time.   
  
*(When this began)  
  
I had nothing to say   
  
And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me   
  
(I was confused)   
  
And I let it all out to find  
  
That I'm not the only person with these things in mind*  
  
He stood up and so did she and he hugged her, placing one hand behind head, feeling her cry. "It's okay baby" he glanced over at Jade.  
  
She stood up and went over to them. Peter put one arm around his other daughter's shoulders and Jade leaned her head against her sister's back.   
  
*(Inside of me)   
  
But all that they can see the words revealed   
  
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel   
  
(Nothing to lose)   
  
Just stuck, hollow and alone   
  
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own   
  
I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real   
  
I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long  
  
(Erase all the pain till it's gone)  
  
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real  
  
I wanna find something I've wanted all along   
  
Somewhere I belong*   
  
*****   
  
CHINA   
  
*And I've got nothing to say  
  
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face   
  
(I was confused)   
  
Looking everywhere only to find  
  
That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind*   
  
She climbed out of the alleyway after all the noises had died down. The streets were empty except for the sounds of motorcycle street racers screaming through the alleys and the noises of their bikes with the missing links from their engine chains that made the bikes sound like a million metal nails scraping across a chalkboard all at the same time.   
  
Her wrist was puffed up three times its size now and blood dripped down her leg and onto the filth on the street. She hurried as best she could past the bikers who were too high on "keg rot" (Speed) to pay any attention to her.   
  
She moved on down the road and almost collided into a small child, a girl with no shoes and a dress too small for her.   
  
The girl started to cry.   
  
"Fong!" a woman, her mother called out to her. She ran out from a dimly lit alley way "Get away from that woman!" she raced ahead and snatched her child, scowling at her. "Hooker, why don't you stay with the bikers where you belong!"  
  
"Please" she called out to her, barely above a whisper "My name is Sun-Ju. I didn't want to be a hooker. They took me, they killed my son, they killed my baby. Please believe me."  
  
The woman still looked at her warily   
  
*(So what am I)   
  
What do I have but negativity   
  
'Cause I can't justify the way, everyone is looking at me   
  
(Nothing to lose)   
  
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone   
  
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own*   
  
She eyed Sun-Ju critically, not knowing whether she could trust her. "You bleeding" she pointed at her leg.   
  
Sun-Ju looked down, and then she finally noticed how badly she was bleeding.   
  
The woman was speaking again, so she looked up. She was also gesturing for Sun-Ju to come with her "I fix wounds. But if your lying I have you arrested." She continued waving "Come on, before someone sees us"   
  
Sun-Ju followed. She knew that anyone helping slave ring hookers would be targets for violent retribution by pimps, or also by the cops that aided them. The little girl looked back to her, with wondering eyes. But not unknowing ones, she had seen this before, just never this close.   
  
*I will never know myself until I do this on my own  
  
And I will never feel anything else until my wounds are healed  
  
I will never be anything till I break away from me  
  
I will break away, I'll find myself today  
  
I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real   
  
I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long  
  
(Erase all the pain till it's gone)  
  
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real  
  
I wanna find something I've wanted all along   
  
Somewhere I belong*  
  
Sun-Ju was led down a narrow alleyway to a small hut-like house with a single window by the door. There was one charcoal fire pit in the middle of the wooden floor. A bedroom, she suspected, broke off to the left and a single bathroom with no toilet completed the tiny house. The lighting was dim at best, one naked lightbulb suspended from the celing supplying light to the entire outer room.  
  
"Sit" the woman gestured towards a dining room chair. She pushed Sun-Ju down into it and disappeared towards one of the other rooms.   
  
A baby on the floor by the pit stared at her from behind a worn couch. Cartoons danced across the screen on a small ten inch black and white TV beside him. His eyes were so brown they were almost black.  
  
The woman came back and something cold touched Sun-Ju's wrist. She jumped  
  
"Ice" the woman told her, sticking her hand on top of it "Hold"   
  
She knelt in front of Sun-Ju and lifted up her skirt, revealing the bullet wound oozing on her leg. With a thread bare rag the woman wiped away the coagulated blood from the wound, scraping until she got out the grime as well.  
  
Sun-Ju bit her lip, but still she screamed. The woman dipped her finger into a metal bowl and rubbed a salve onto the wound. Then she took another rag and tied it around Sun-Ju's leg as a bandage.   
  
"If blood flow is bad, I cannot help the leg" she had no way to prevent against gangrene, and if Sun-Ju went to a hospital she would be arrested for prostitution and land back in the hands of the same crooked cops who dealt with the Ring.   
  
Sun-Ju looked down at her injury and did not say anything.   
  
"You stay here on the couch." The woman told her "My husband is out of town until tomorrow morning."  
  
Sun-Ju nodded. It was the only thing she could do. She couldn't endanger this woman and her family any more then she had too. This wasn't their problem. The baby on the floor had fallen asleep facing her, and on her left the woman's daughter now stared at her.  
  
"Fong you must go to bed" her mother said to her, ushering her into the room they shared. She picked the baby off the floor, eyeing Sun-Ju as she did so. "My husband comes home at nine o'clock. You must be gone before that"  
  
Sun-Ju shook her head, and watched the other woman retreat into the small bedroom with the baby. She pulled herself off the dining chair and limped over to the worn blue couch. The cushions were sagging, and the back had lost some of its fluff as well but she couldn't complain, it was better then the streets. She closed her eyes. She was exhausted but sleep would not come to her.   
  
*I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong  
  
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong  
  
Somewhere I belong*   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
CRASH  
  
8: 15 PM  
  
"Glad my girl is aiight" Cindy sipped her beer, looking at Max. The incident from yesterday had scared the piss outta her. "Can't believe some wack job decided to dump some 'unaware juice' into my boo and try to screw her up"  
  
"Some people have a dumb way to get their ya ya's out" Max spoke out beside her. "But no permanent damage. Takes more then that to bring me down."  
  
"Glad every day for it too sugah" Cindy agreed. She raised her beer mug "Here's to this night beein' better then the last"  
  
"Down with that" Max agreed, clinking her mug against Cindy's.   
  
"So-" Cindy began in a 'dish girl' voice "Where's ya squeeze?"   
  
"Workin'" Max informed flatly   
  
"And you couldn't drag him away from it?" Cindy raised her eyebrow at that.   
  
"Not that good with stuff like that"  
  
"Now sugah, don't be lyin' cause you know ya are" Cindy told her "I've seen you command men to ya will with nuthin' more then a bat of those smoky eyes." She took a sip of her beer "You are just like Cree. Our girl was smokin' but she never wanted to hold to it, always bein' modest over her physique."  
  
"With all the stuff she went through I can understand why" Max said  
  
"Straight up" Cindy agreed "Every time I think of that shit" she shook her head almost growling "How the hell can mens do that to sistahs?"   
  
"They're pricks" Max analyzed. She heard a smash behind her and turned. A woman was huddled on the floor by the bar, pieces of a smashed barstool laid beside her.  
  
"Bitch!" a man above her picked up a glass and chucked it at her "I told you to give me ALL the money!" He kicked her and she jumped.   
  
*Walking around I hear the earth seekihng relief  
  
I'm trying to find a reason to live  
  
But the mindless clutter my path  
  
Oh these thorns in my side  
  
I know I have something free  
  
I have something so alive  
  
I think they shoot cause they want it  
  
I feel forces all around me  
  
Come on raise your head  
  
Those who hide behind the shadows  
  
Live with all that's dead*  
  
"What the hell is going on?"   
  
Max turned to her friend "I don't know." She got up out of her seat and ran over to where the woman was crouched. Another glass broke, Max ducked. "Yo asshole!" she grabbed the man's arm when he reached for another glass, bending it back with super human strength until she pinned it behind his back "Where do you get off knockin' around a sistah?"  
  
*Look at me... look at me  
  
At least look at me when you shoot a bullet through my head  
  
Through my head  
  
Through my head  
  
Through my head*  
  
"Hoe this ain't none of your business!" the man spat at her, trying to break out of her grip.  
  
Max pulled harder on his arm, close to dislocating it "I'm making it my business. Why don't you just leave her alone and slink away in the night before I get out my stompin' boots?" she reached around with her other foot and kicked him into a table. Once she was sure he was out she turned back to the woman.  
  
Cindy kneeled beside her as well. "Girl you aiight?"  
  
The woman was still scared and she jerked her arm from Cindy's grasp.  
  
"Max" Cindy said "Look at this"  
  
Max kneeled next to the woman and saw what Cindy was talking about. It was a mark on her shoulder. An oriental character, but wasn't a tattoo, it was burned into the woman's flesh like a brand.  
  
"What the hell did those bastards do to her?"   
  
*In my lifetime when I'm disgraced  
  
By jealousy and lies  
  
I laugh aloud 'cause my life  
  
Has gotten inside someone else's mind*  
  
The woman still looked around frantically. (In Chinese) "What do you want?"   
  
"Shit boo she don't even speak English and that prick was all up on her. Probably liked that she couldn't tell him to stop so he could understand it."  
  
"Thirty-four"  
  
Cindy looked at Max "What?"  
  
"Thrity-four" Max pointed to the branding on the woman's shoulder "It's the Chinese character for the number thirty-four"   
  
"But who the hell did it to her that's what I want to know" Cindy growled  
  
Max went silent for a moment before turning to the woman   
  
(spoken in Chinese):   
  
"What's your name?"  
  
The woman looked at her fearfully and defensive "Why do you want to know?"  
  
Cindy looked astonished "You never told me you could speak Chinese."  
  
  
  
"Missions were better for Manticore if their soldiers knew how to speak more then one language" Max stated in English in a low voice. She looked back at the woman, speaking in Chinese again  
  
"Who did this to you?" she touched the mark on shoulder  
  
The woman reared back, still saying nothing.  
  
"I still didn't get your name. I could call you Jane Doe, but why don't you cut the crap and spill your real credentials" she wasn't trying to be cruel. This was just how she did things to get stuff out of people. It was harsh, but most of the time it was effective.   
  
"I don't have one!" she spat "My number's thirty-four. That's the only thing I have that's mine!"  
  
"Are you from a ring?"  
  
The woman didn't say anything, but her look was her answer   
  
"Whose?" Max jumped the gun and assumed her hunch was right "Whose your pimp?"  
  
"What's going on?" Cindy wanted to know, not wanting to be left out of the conversation anymore.   
  
Max looked up to her "She's part of a sex ring. The number's her ID"  
  
"Damn" Cindy cursed   
  
"He doesn't tell me his name" The woman spat to Max, answering her earlier question "He's not stupid!"  
  
"Did you get sold out from somewhere else sides Seattle?"  
  
The woman turned to her angrily "What do you think?"   
  
"Who was your pimp there?"  
  
"I told you already!" she barked   
  
"Not here" Max growled "In China. Who sold you here?"  
  
"How the hell would I know?" she snapped "No one tells us anything. They just ship us around like merchandise!" She shut up "Are you a cop?"  
  
Max shook her head  
  
"Why do you want to know all of this? Huh? He took my sons away and put them in an orphanage! My husband was arrested by the officials for trying to get them out, now they have to stay in the system, and my husband was thrown in jail!"  
  
Max gave a hard look to Cindy   
  
"What?"  
  
"She's not from here" she blinked "Someone sold her here from China. She doesn't speak the language, she doesn't know her way around. It's a way to keep her from escaping"  
  
"Son-of-bitches" Cindy whispered, she looked up "What do we do now?"   
  
Max looked back at the woman "Let me help you"  
  
She sneered "No one can help me"  
  
"You got two options" Max snapped "Either you let me try to help you, or they'll catch you and take you back"  
  
She didn't say anything.  
  
Max took it as a sign and went over to use the payphone mounted by the bar. She banged on the phone, shaking out loose change from the return, which she used to make her call.  
  
"Hey it's me"  
  
"Hey sorry I had to work" Logan's voice announced through the phone "Hope it didn't put a damper on your plans"  
  
"It's aiight" Max looked back at the woman Cindy was helping up off the floor of Crash "I need you to do something for me though"  
  
"If I can I will" he told her "What is it?"  
  
"Not here" she spoke into the phone  
  
(cut to: scene of Logan listening on the phone in his computer room. He's got the phone resting on his shoulder, and he's leaning back in the computer chair. Max's voice is heard through the phone)  
  
"I'm commin' over to your place, we'll talk about it there"  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
(cut back to Max in Crash on the payphone)  
  
"See ya in fifteen minutes" she hung up. Walking back to the woman and Cindy she gestured for the nameless woman to come with her.   
  
"It's okay, just trust me"  
  
*Hey all I want is what's real  
  
Something I touch and can feel  
  
I'll hold it close and never let it go  
  
Said why...why do we live life  
  
With all this hate inside  
  
I'll give it away 'cause I don't want it no more  
  
Please help me find a place   
  
Somewhere far away I'll go and you'll never see me again*   
  
*****   
  
I read a fic a while back that had Max and Jondy were able to speak in Japanese. And I agree with the author's concept that X5's could be equipped with being able to speak numerous languages, not just English. It would make Manticore's assignments go smoother if their creations could talk their way into anywhere.   
  
The last bit with the Chinese woman (yes she is part of that "covoy" that was shipped in the piano box from China in the first chapter) is knowledge taken from a section of United States Congressional Legislature which states that (this is not a direct quote) "parties often take women from foreign countries and send them to places where they don't know the language in order to make it harder for them to escape"  
  
The bit about the motorcycle racing stems from a Time Magazine article called "Speed Demons" profiling the out of control addictions of Speed in China and Thailand. Speed in China is called "keg rot" and there are whole neighborhoods of shanty towns filled with addicts, and at night many young men take speed before holding motorcycle races at two in the morning.   
  
Jondy's little tantrum is to show what I feel she would do if Zack did something like that to her. I'm not a relationshipper between any of the X5 siblings and other X5 siblings. I feel that grew up knowing each other as brothers and sisters and events like that would make them uneasy. Zack didn't love Jondy like a girlfriend, he loves her as a sister, and he did what he thought was one of the only ways he knew of to keep her from getting out of hand during heat.   
  
Max and Cree will meet up again, and Jondy will get to see Max..i hafta establish a reason for both though, and a good course of action to go about it.  
  
Okay, these are long end notes...but..finally...songs used are:  
  
Jondy coming home and tearin up her apartment-"Break Stuff" (Limp Bizkit)  
  
Cree talking to her dad/Sun-Ju in China "Somewhere I Belong" (Linkin Park)   
  
Ty and Kenny talking/Jade and Cree hanging out "I Miss You" (the late) Aalyiah)  
  
Woman at Crash/Max talking to Logan afterwards "Bullets" (Creed) 


	8. Shrapnel

Chapter 8- "Shrapnel"   
  
Sorry for the wait, I've had writers block  
  
*****  
  
SEATTLE   
  
*(It starts with)  
  
One thing / I don't know why  
  
It doesn't even matter how hard you try  
  
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme  
  
To explain in due time  
  
All I know  
  
time is a valuable thing  
  
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings  
  
Watch it count down to the end of the day  
  
The clock ticks life away  
  
It's so unreal  
  
Didn't look out below  
  
Watch the time go right out the window  
  
Trying to hold on / but didn't even know  
  
Wasted it all just to  
  
Watch you go*   
  
Logan opened the door as soon as he caught sight of Max and Cindy "What's going on?-" he shut up when he saw a woman trailing behind the two he knew. She looked like a fish being forced out of water and onto a hot griddle. With some silent coaxing from Max the nameless woman entered the penthouse.   
  
Logan watched all this with ample curiosity, but didn't say anything as he quietly shut his front door. The woman barely even glanced at Logan, constantly averting her eyes from the only man in the room.   
  
"Max-" Logan was through being silent, he wanted answers "who is she?"   
  
In answer Max walked over to the woman and pulled at the strap on her dress.   
  
"Don't touch me!" the woman spat, slapping Max's hand away.   
  
Max pulled back in a pissy manner. Even though the woman was most likely a sex slave, Max still didn't tolerate mouth from anyone. "Show him your mark," she stated in Chinese, it wasn't a request "Do it!"  
  
"Max-" Logan spoke low but firm, he didn't understand why she had to reprimand this woman, still in amazement that she knew how to speak Chinese  
  
"Don't start with me Logan" Max growled back, as the woman pulled her own strap down revealing the brand on her body.  
  
"She was brought here from China" Max told Logan "Local hired her out to a john at Crash."   
  
Logan looking at her bare skin made the woman uncomfortable, and she yanked her strap back on her body, her large dark almond eyes locked in a fierce gaze. "Do you know what area?" he shifted his eyes to Max  
  
Max shook her head "She didn't tell me much"   
  
"What about her name?"  
  
"Sistah girl hasn't dished out much 411 on herself" Cindy broke her silence beside Max.   
  
"Ask her" Logan wanted to make use of the talent he just found out his girlfriend had.   
  
Max turned her eyes to the woman "What was your name before?"  
  
The woman lifted her head and looked at her with a gaze that could start a fire "Jin-Mei, from my paternal grandmother"   
  
Max's hard look softened some "It's beautiful"  
  
Jin-Mei's expression also changed. It was the first time she had received a real compliment in years "Tshi Tshi (thank you)"  
  
"Do you remember where you were sent from?" Logan asked and Max translated the question  
  
"Bangkok" Jin-Mei was finally starting to open up some "They put us inside piano box"  
  
"Us?" Max questioned, "There were more?"   
  
Jin-Mei nodded with a solemn gaze   
  
"How many?" Max asked   
  
"Twenty. The box had such little air that one girl was barely breathing when they opened the door." She gave a somber pause, but a brief one "Her second man killed her" it was gruesome to talk about but Jin-Mei wasn't sad or even angry. She had gotten to a point where these things were just numb to her. "The others made it"   
  
"She says that she was sent here in a piano crate with twenty others from Bangkok. One died after she got here"   
  
"Damn" Cindy cursed in a whisper. She looked to Jin-Mei "Not gonna rat you out girl, you're safe"   
  
Max turned to Cindy, cause she had just spoken to Jin-Mei in Chinese.   
  
"We all have our hidden talents boo" Cindy told Max "Kendra taught Mandarin 'fore you arrived on the scene. I picked up a bit, nothin' that would start any fires"   
  
"Matter of opinion" Max said, watching Cindy smile slightly.   
  
*I kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart  
  
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried  
  
so hard  
  
And got so far  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't even matter  
  
I had to fall  
  
To lose it all  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't even matter*   
  
Max looked over to Logan. She had gotten Jin-Mei here, but she had no real game plan "So whadda we do now?"   
  
"I can set her up in a safe house" Logan spoke up   
  
Max shook her head "This sludge probably has feelers everywhere. They'll drop her down at one glance of her on the streets. The best thing would be to get her outta the state"   
  
"She's a sex slave Max" Logan said what they all suspected "Which is illegal in this country, but that doesn't mean she won't be tailed wherever she goes."  
  
"How about Canada?" Cindy suggested. With things as bad in the U.S. as they were, many American citizens tried to hop the border into the country next door.   
  
"It won't work if she doesn't speak English" Logan reminded "No chance of sending her back to China either. Even if she did wanna go. She'd be recognized by the same ring that sold her off and thrown into a brothel all over again." He paused looking at Jin-Mei's almost black eyes. "Our best bet would be to set her up with a new identity here in the city, alter her appearance. Give her phony papers, sector passes, citizenship papers. These guys will be expecting her to try and get out of the country. They won't be looking for someone whose hanging around right under their noses."  
  
"Is there a Chinese district in the city?" Max asked  
  
Logan nodded "There's one two sectors away from here."  
  
"How we gonna get her in?" Max asked "I speak the language, but that area don't trust anyone outside their racial boundaries ever since the raid on there two years ago, and she needs the approval of the housing district manager to even get in the place"   
  
Logan looked impressed with her knowledge "How'd you-"  
  
"Woman in our crib moved there after her apartment fell apart from terminates"   
  
"So we need to find someone whose Chinese or at least looks the part and willing to be on a DL operation" Cindy said "How bout your detective friend?"  
  
"He's out on a field operation for the rest of the week" Logan said "It'd be too late by the time he got back"  
  
Cindy looked down for a moment, contemplating the situation "Wait. How bout Cree's mom? Sistah's Chinese isn't she? And she's a cop she knows how to handle herself"   
  
"But she doesn't have any jurisdiction in Washington" Logan reminded   
  
"Who said anything bout jurisdiction?" Cindy argued "What we doin' isn't legal anywayz, so not like she's gotta file a report on it afta it goes down" Cindy informed, "Can't hurt to ask. Got nuthin' to loose by tryin' and everythin' by not"   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELOUS   
  
RED IBIS LANE   
  
"Hello?"   
  
"Hey sistah girl" Cindy's voice spoke to Cree on the other line "Been a while"  
  
"Cindy" Cree was happy she called "Yeah it has girl" she smiled and walked out of the kitchen with the phone "How you doin'?"   
  
"Original Cindy can't complain" Cindy smiled from her end "You doin' good bein' home?"  
  
"Feels better" Cree admitted, "Still have some stuff to weed through"   
  
"Good" Cindy said from her end "Girl hang on" she turned and passed the phone to Max who was in Logan's computer room   
  
"Cree-"  
  
"Max-" Cree's smile grew larger "Hey! It's so great to hear from you!"  
  
Max smiled "You too girl. Listen' I hate to do this to ya, but I actually wanna talk to ya mom-is that aiight?"  
  
"Yeah." Cree said "She had an early shift today" Cree spotted Ming walking into the living room "Hang on a sec-Mom?"  
  
"What is it baby?" Ming called out from the kitchen.   
  
Cree walked over to her with the cordless phone "Max, my friend from Seattle is on the line, and-she wants to talk to you" she handed her mother the phone.  
  
Ming took it, hesitantly at first; she hadn't spoken to the other woman since those days in Seattle "Max?"   
  
"Officer Amston. Sorry, am I botherin' ya?"  
  
"No it's fine" Ming reassured "I was just watching the news."   
  
"I need to ask a favor from you." Max cut right to the chase   
  
Ming's attention grew "What is it?"   
  
Max explained the situation while Ming listened intently "What you're asking Ms. Guevara, it's not legal"   
  
"Tell me something neither of us don't know" Max returned, "This is her only chance. Any other way has her six feet under burnin' water"   
  
"Even if I agreed there's no way to get a plane out of LA tonight. We've had airport runs ever since the Pulse. I've had to stop a few riots myself"   
  
"There'll be a round trip ticket waiting for you at LA international for a flight out to Seattle under the name Carlos Moralez"  
  
"Carlos Moralez?"  
  
"Name of an old acquaintance who owes me. Money will be there too for a hotel, car."  
  
"What if I don't accept this offer?"  
  
"Then this conversation and transaction will be erased like it never happened" there was a long pause "I can't make you say yes Ms. Amston, but I think all the good will luck run out with your daughter with this unless we do something to end it"  
  
"Max-" Ming cut in "What time is the flight?"  
  
"9:00." Max informed, "That'll give you two hours to get out to the airport"   
  
"I'll be there"  
  
"Good" Max said "Ms. Amston?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks"   
  
"Thank me when I get there" the phone clicked.  
  
= = =   
  
"Carlos Moralez?" Logan said the name again  
  
"He was my foster father." Max informed "Maria's dad. Figure he owes me this much after all the family lovin'"  
  
Logan agreed silently  
  
*****   
  
"Mom what is it?" Cree asked   
  
Ming set the phone down "I have a flight to catch tonight"  
  
"Flight?" Cree was confused "Where?"  
  
"Seattle" Ming set the phone back in it's cradle "Your friend thinks I can help this woman she ran into"  
  
"Help her how?"  
  
Ming turned around to her daughter "She was found at a local bar being beaten by her 'owner'"  
  
Cree understood with a silent gaze.   
  
"There's a Chinatown area in Seattle she can hide in but she needs approval of a bigoted manager who only has faith in Chinese people."   
  
"This could get you fired mom" Cree said  
  
"Not if anyone doesn't find out about it baby" Ming informed "I'll be out of my district so there's little chance of anyone reporting it to any of my brass. She set me up with a plane ticket under another name." Ming headed into her bedroom.   
  
Cree followed, watching her mom take down a few suitcases. "Hand me my laptop baby"   
  
Cree gave her the hp notebook, watching it boot up. "What are you doing?"   
  
Ming accessed the police records, stopping at the name of an armed robbery arrest who had been killed in a police shoot out. She sifted through the list of things confiscated off him, until she found the listing code off his credit card number.   
  
"Mom-"  
  
"Hang on a sec Cree" Ming accessed the Platinum card website and hacked into the secure files, changing all the account information to 'Marisa Yee 26 Hawthorn Lane. Los Angeles" "Give it a sec" she walked over to her dresser and picked up a black phone, dialing the credit card company number. "Can I speak to your Account Information Office please?" she waited, then "Yes, my credit card was stolen two nights ago and I'd like to replace it." "Marisa Yee." "043532743" "No I had just gotten the card, I didn't get to use it before it was take-yes, yes thank you. I'll be there to pick it up." She ended the call   
  
"Why'd didn't you just say you lost the card?' Cree asked her mom  
  
"Cause when a credit card is stolen the company freezes the account and doesn't hold the owner accountable for any money used on it. If I said I lost it I might be stuck with three dollars left. This card also is silver enough that it doesn't take any credit off the card if it's reported stolen. All I have to do is go downtown to their office and pick a new one up fully loaded before ten o' clock."  
  
"Did you learn this at the academy?"   
  
"No baby I learned it with my first husband." Ming's voice was emotionless "He would become so violent that I'd run away for weeks at a time, hiding out in motels, boarding houses, wherever I could. I found someone's credit card lying in an alley once and tried my luck on it. The woman at the bank made the mistake in telling me that if I would've reported the card stolen the 'thief' who took it would be held in account for the lost funds not me. I learned how to use a computer from a neighbor and found this guy on the street that showed me how to by pass the account security. I opened a secret account for myself under a false name. I needed it for when I really left him. All my money was in a joint account, and I knew he would lock me out of it if I tried to leave him."   
  
*So what am I not supposed to have an opinion  
  
Should I be quiet just because I'm a woman  
  
Call me a bitch cos I speak what's on my mind  
  
Guess it's easier for you to swallow if I sat and smiled*  
  
Cree listened to the story with quiet passion, feeling that she was no longer really alone in this. Jade, Max, Cindy, they all tried to help, but they never really knew what it was like to be used and abused by a man, to fear him. Ming did. It was the deepest connection with her mother she had ever felt. "Better make that two tickets"  
  
Ming looked at her daughter "Cree-"  
  
"Don't-" she held up her hand "All the time at home won't take away what's happened. Max saved my life mom. I owe her."   
  
*When a female fires back  
  
Suddenly the target don't know how to act  
  
So he does what any little boy will do  
  
Making up a few false rumors or two*  
  
Ming just looked at her daughter "I don't think they'll be a ticket available"  
  
"I'll sit on the wing" Cree spoke up   
  
*****   
  
AMERICAN EXPRESS OFFICE  
  
"Here you are Ms. Yee" the clerk handed Ming a new card "Is there anything else we can do for you?"  
  
"No that's fine" Ming reassured, talking the card. "Thanks" she headed back into the night.  
  
An LAPD squad car was waiting for her. Ming threw her and Cree's overnight bags into the trunk on top of Dalton's riot gear.   
  
*That for sure is not a man to me  
  
Slanderin' names for popularity  
  
It's sad you only get your fame through controversy   
  
But now it's time for me to come and give you more to say*  
  
"Ya know you owe me major for this Amston" Officer Dalton, Ming's partner looked at her from the driver's seat of his cruiser.   
  
"Helpin' me out ain't enough?" Ming asked   
  
Dalton shot her a look.  
  
"How bout courtside tickets to a Lakers game?"   
  
Dalton smiled then, dropping the gearshift out of park "Time to rock and roll ladies"   
  
*This is for my girls all around the world  
  
Who've come across a man who don't respect your worth  
  
Thinking all women should be seen, not heard  
  
So what do we do girls?  
  
Shout louder!*  
  
The sector stop for the airport was packed with Martial Law created guards in riot gear. One held his hand out when he saw the police cruiser coming in. Ever since the Pulse it was hard as hell to get into an airport because of all the security checkpoints. If someone showed up in a police cruiser, it sorta speeded up the whole process.  
  
"Just dropping some friends off from a vacation" Dalton lied to the man, the civilian rent-a-cop whose ass he could kick up and down the block in bedroom slippers.   
  
The sector cop looked inside the car "Hope you had fun while they were here" he smiled at the two women, a leering smile.   
  
Dalton grinned as well "Yeah man, had a ball." He paused and looked the other man right in the eye "Stand up straight"  
  
"What?" the cop was confused   
  
"I'm about two hits away from bein' made a Lieutenant son so that means I outrank you. And what do you do when a higher rank gives you an order?"  
  
"Sorry Sir" the cop stood up straighter  
  
"Good" Dalton praised, he turned to Ming "What's your assessment?"  
  
Ming peered over out the window, looking at man outside "It's bout as big as this-"  
  
The sector cop looked in the car in time to see Ming flipping him off to indicate the size of his penis, with an 'I-can-kick-you-ass' smile  
  
"I'd say your right" he looked back to the sector cop "Don't you agree?"  
  
"Yes Sir" it was all the sector cop could say. The other cop did actually outrank him, and if Dalton complained to the right people the sector cop would loose his job faster then he could blink  
  
Dalton chuckled "Good deal" he reached out and patted the cop on the shoulder "Keep up the good work nimble fingers" he rolled up his window and drove through the checkpoint after another guard inside raised the barricade.   
  
"Still got the moves girl" Dalton laughed "Bet he's still thinkin' bout what he hell he did   
  
wrong"   
  
Ming turned to Cree in the back once they passed the sector and were heading towards the airport terminal. "I only use this power when I'm extremely pissed off honey"  
  
"Then more power to ya mom" Cree had a smile of her own   
  
Dalton laughed, "Go on girl. Ya got the best part of your moms in ya" he held out his hand for a fist high five, waiting as Ming slid back the plastic half of the barricade and let Cree hit Dalton back.  
  
*Letting them know we're gonna stand our ground  
  
Lift your hands high and wave them proud  
  
Take a deep breath and say it loud  
  
Never can, never will, can't hold us down*   
  
*****   
  
AIRPORT TERMINAL   
  
"I have a plane ticket reserved here. It should be under the name Carlos Moralez"  
  
The woman behind the counter checked her reservation list on the computer. "Here it is." She handed Ming an envelope with the ticket inside.   
  
"Thanks" Ming said, taking the envelope "I forgot to buy a ticket for my daughter. Is the seat still available next to mine?"   
  
The woman checked "Sorry, Ma'am, that seat is filled."  
  
"Is it by Mark Watson?"   
  
The woman looked surprised, but nodded  
  
Ming faked a laugh "That's my daughter's boyfriend. He got her on her and it slipped my mind. I've just been so busy"  
  
The clerk smiled at her and printed out another ticket. "The seat is also for round trip. And the total comes to $400.35. Will that be check or credit?"  
  
"Credit" Ming handed her the credit card and then collected her receipts. "The boarding for this flight starts in fifteen minutes at Gate 24"  
  
"Thanks" Ming said collecting her bag.   
  
"Another security thing mom?" Cree asked, wheeling her suitcase behind her.   
  
"Rob has men who know about a Marisa Yee. They think she's me-" she stated mokingly "but they also know that she would NEVER travel alone or with a man, she's too afraid of them"   
  
"Are you afraid of his men?"  
  
Ming shook her head, blowing it off "I just rather not have a bunch of punch drunk idiots waiting to drop me down after we come back" she let it drop after that   
  
"Anything else you'd like to tell me?" Cree asked "Did you moonlight as a CIA agent before you joined the force?"   
  
"Your father knows of the only 'moonlighting' I've done" Ming said, laughing when Cree made a face "Gate's that way baby"   
  
*****   
  
*This is for my girls...  
  
This is for my girls all around the world  
  
Who've come across a man who don't respect your worth  
  
Thinking all women should be seen, not heard  
  
So what do we do girls?  
  
Shout louder!*  
  
LOS ANGELES   
  
Jondy sat on her dining room chair. On the computer screen in front of her was a file image of Max as a child. She enhanced it and then uploaded it to a computer-aging program she hacked into off a government missing child agency.   
  
She fiddled with the image a bit until she got a picture of what she would look like now. She then logged into a search, for a picture that resembled that image. She came up with a match off an old wanted poster. An image of a woman was on it along with a reward for her capture.   
  
/FLASH: Lydecker stares at the simile just printed out, then orders more copies to be made/   
  
The eyes, even though it was only a drawing looked the same as Jondy remembered it. She checked for the location the poster was printed out from.   
  
"Seattle Washington   
  
EXACT PRINTING LOCATION UNACCESSABLE"   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE   
  
"Hey!" Max hugged Cree when she saw her at the gate. She didn't expect her to come "Bout time you stumbled back my way"  
  
Cree hugged her back warmly   
  
"You look great" Max stared at her friend.   
  
"Where's Logan?" Cree asked   
  
"He's waiting for us" Max said, then looked up to Ming "There's a car outside"   
  
"Thanks" Ming responded  
  
They made it outside to the red Mazda waiting outside.   
  
Cree and Ming loaded their things in the trunk. Ming slammed it shut when they were finished and looked to Max, who wasn't getting inside. "You riding with us?"  
  
Max shook her head. "Got my own ride" she nodded over to her Ninja sitting a few feet away on the curb. "Logan's place isn't far. I'll go slow so you can follow. Wouldn't help loosin' the guests of honor"   
  
"I can see why Cree likes you so much" Ming analyzed   
  
"Me too" Max agreed, climbing on her bike while she waited for them to get in the car  
  
*****   
  
CHINA   
  
Mei-Mei awoke with a start when she heard a man's voice. She then realized she had slept too late. She fell off the couch and ran out the door, hearing the man calling after her, but she didn't look back.  
  
*Bangkok, Oriental setting   
  
And the city don't know that the city is getting   
  
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a   
  
Show with everything but Yul Brynner   
  
Time flies - doesn't seem a minute   
  
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it   
  
All change - don't you know that when you   
  
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue*   
  
She ran past the bikers, some of who cat called out to her. She rounded another alley, and into someone, a man. He grabbed her by the arms and she screamed, trying to get away.   
  
"Stop!" he kept yelling at her. She kept screaming, until she felt something hit her head, and she fell back onto the dirt.  
  
*One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble   
  
Not much between despair and ecstasy   
  
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble   
  
Can't be too careful with your company   
  
I can feel the devil walking next to me*   
  
*****   
  
LOS ANGELES  
  
Jondy zipped up her backpack and went to grab her jacket. She slid it on her body, grabbing her pack and her keys and heading out the door.   
  
*If you'd accept surrender, I'll give up some more   
  
Weren't you adored?  
  
I cannot be without you, matter of fact  
  
Ohh ohh ohhhhh, I'm on your back*  
  
"Going somewhere girl?" Jondy's neighbor asked her.   
  
Jondy wheeled her motorcycle out to the road "Takin' a little vacation Rodger" she turned to the man "watch my crib while I'm gone?"   
  
"Sure" Rodger nodded  
  
"There's a pack of cigarettes in my mail slot." Jondy mounted the bike "You can have it"  
  
"Thanks Sam" Rodger responded watching her drive away   
  
*If you walk out on me, I'm walking after you   
  
If you walk out on me, I'm walking after you*   
  
Another cycle pulled behind Jondy after she was on the road. The bike stayed a safe distance away from her, but watching her every move.  
  
Zack pulled his hood over his head when Jondy turned to see who was behind her. She didn't notice him and sped up.   
  
* Ohh ohh ohhhhh, I'm on your back   
  
I'm on your back  
  
Ohh ohh ohhhhh, I'm on your back*  
  
*****   
  
CHINA   
  
Mei-Mei woke up on a cot. She grabbed her head and tried to sit up.   
  
"You're awake" She looked and saw the same face that had jumped her. Only this time she could she that his eyes weren't mad. He looked about her age, maybe a few years younger, late twenties. He was dressed in a biker's outfit. A messenger biker. One who shuffled packages back and forth from Bangkok's busy business district.   
  
"You were screaming too much" the man finally spoke to Mei-Mei "Cops would've come" he sat on another cot, drinking a Sprite from a can. He took a few sips and then offered it to her.   
  
She took it eagerly from him. Her throat was like sandpaper. She drank almost all of it.   
  
"So what's your name?" The man leaned back on his cot "And I don't mean that number they gave you."   
  
Mei-Mei glowered at him. She still didn't know if she could trust him "What's yours?"   
  
"Jon" he responded, "My parents were into being American"  
  
"Betsy Ross, nice to meet you"  
  
Jon didn't laugh "How far has lying ever got you?"  
  
She stared him down then "It saved my life you prick"   
  
Jon didn't acknowledge the 'prick' part of her statement "You're from the District Area aren't you?" he didn't wait for her to answer "I saw you there before when I was delivering my packages, from afar that is"   
  
"Why are helping me?"   
  
"Who says I am?" Jon's reply was harsh. He stared her down for a moment, but then "My sister was taken last year by those men. She turned up floating in the river. Apparently she screamed too much too" He pulled another soda can from under his blanket on the cot "Here" he threw it at her "I'm going for a smoke" he left the room.   
  
Mei-Mei held the can, watching Jon leave. She did not know what to make of him. He could very well sell her off like she expected him too. He was still young, and young people liked money.   
  
But in spite of that, and everything else that warned her that she might be floating in a river next, they didn't seem to be that different from each other.   
  
*****   
  
like I said I've had writers block up the yin yang, I finally got ideas for this so I sat down for about two hours and got them all here before I forgot.   
  
Don't think that Jon will be like all the other men Mei-Mei has known, and will mess her up. But in the same sense he isn't her best buddy. Its just circumstance that brought them together. And that's what I'm trying to show.   
  
Jondy is on her WAY to see Max, she'll get there in the next chapter. I just needed her reason and Cree's for going to Seattle. The stage is set now, so I can let it out in the next couple installments.   
  
Songs used are:  
  
Opening scene at Logan's penthouse- "In the End" (Linkin Park)  
  
Ming and Cree leaving for the airport "Can't Hold Us Down" (Christina Agularia and Lil Kim)   
  
Jondy leaving her apartment -"Walking After You" (Foo Fighters, from "The X Files: Fight the Future" soundtrack)   
  
Mei-Mei running away in China - "One Night in Bangkok" (Head Murray) 


	9. Outside Down

Chapter 9-"Outside Down"   
  
A/N: the phrase is normally "upside down" But in the case of some lives things aren't up even a bit, and everything they do seems to make them an outsider.   
  
A/N: #2 this chapter begins with an original poem by me  
  
==================  
  
  
  
I am less then human  
  
And you beat me down as so  
  
I am less then human  
  
Something you forced me everyday to know  
  
You molested my mind and my body  
  
Sold me off like fresh meat  
  
You let them use and abuse me  
  
I was just a fuck with a heartbeat  
  
You kept me chained to my bed   
  
To keep me from trying to escape  
  
You made me keep my eyes open  
  
And witness every part of my rape  
  
I was raped again and again  
  
By men who had cash money  
  
Sometimes fifty men in a day  
  
And they all wanted to eat my honey  
  
I am less then human  
  
That is why I am in chains  
  
I am less then human, like the others  
  
Why we're all numbers, not names  
  
The other girls and I  
  
We are there only for you  
  
Slabs of meat for your clientele  
  
Selling unlimited screws  
  
We don't moan here, we scream  
  
And cry when each time's done  
  
Our chains rattle after we "service" a man  
  
And do another immediately after that one  
  
I am less then human  
  
But I figured something out while I was being used  
  
Everything you told me was a lie  
  
And now I'm pissed for being abused  
  
You used me like an object  
  
I was nothing but your whore  
  
I was beaten into submission   
  
So you could charge access to my candy store  
  
But I broke out of my shackles  
  
And there's nothing you can do  
  
So the next time you wanna watch someone get fucked  
  
Go give yourself a screw  
  
Being "less then human" has hardened me forever  
  
It has made me who I am  
  
And turned my skin to leather  
  
But I am still a woman  
  
And I didn't ask to be this hard  
  
I don't want to be abused  
  
I don't want to have these scars  
  
I want my life back  
  
I want to feel alive  
  
I'm tired of feeling used  
  
And almost dead inside  
  
I can't forget what you did to me  
  
The memories will always be raw  
  
I won't ever forget what happened  
  
Won't ever forget the shit I saw  
  
I will never be the same  
  
But I will carry on  
  
If you thought you could break me you bastard   
  
You were dead wrong  
  
I'm damaged goods now  
  
As far as forever goes  
  
I'm a different woman now  
  
And I'm not the only one who knows  
  
But here's something you didn't know  
  
Why you'll soon find out you're loosin'   
  
I'm a survivor, I'll make it  
  
Because I'm NOT less them human  
  
================  
  
* * * *   
  
FOGGLE TOWERS  
  
"Cree?" Cindy was the one who opened the door and was shocked at who she found. A smile graced her lips soon after though "Girl why didn't you tell us you were comin' out as well?" Cindy enveloped her in a big hug.  
  
"It was sorta last minute travel plans" Cree confessed, falling into Cindy's hug   
  
"Not a prob sugah" Cindy pulled back "You always welcome here"   
  
Cree adapted a smile of her own. "Hey Logan" she looked over at the man standing a few feet behind Cindy. She stepped over to him and offered him a hug.  
  
He accepted it "You look really great"   
  
Cree shrugged "California Sun. Once I hit it again I bronzed out" Her statement was very true. She had been pale when they first met, from the fact that she had spent most of her time for three years in a dimly lit room or in the dark. Now though, she was tanned a golden brown and she looked--healthier. She had put on some weight to cover her bones. Her hair was shorter, but not by much, it still went below her collarbone. Even her eyes, though they still had some darkness in them, looked brighter. Being back home had been good for her. "You look really great too Logan" she smiled "And I bet I know why" she shot a look at Max, still smiling before turning to her mom "You guys remember my mom, Ming-" she started introducing her mom to her friends again "Mom remember that's Cindy and Logan, Max's boyfriend"   
  
Max didn't even deny it this time. Why should she? She was happier then she had been in a long time. Why lie about it?   
  
Ming smiled at all of them warmly enough, but then looked to Logan, a look of business in her eyes "Where is she?"   
  
*****  
  
"Hello" Ming was inside Logan's guest bedroom where Jin-Mei was sitting tentively on the queen size bed.  
  
Jin-Mei didn't even look up, just sat there, looking at her dress which she had been doing ever since she had been in there.   
  
"My name's Ming Amston" Ming stated in Chinese, speaking softly so that the other woman wouldn't see her as a threat "I'm here to help you-"  
  
Jin-Mei snapped her head up then, a quiet passion in her eyes "Are you a cop?"  
  
"Yes" Ming didn't lie  
  
Jin-Mei jumped off the bed then "Then I don't have anything else to say to you"   
  
"Sit back down!" Ming ordered blocking the other woman's way  
  
= =  
  
How dare you say that my behavior is unacceptable.   
  
So condescending unnecessarily critical  
  
I have the tendency of getting very physical  
  
So watch your step cause if I do you'll need a miracle  
  
= =  
  
"You need to check yourself woman." Ming's voice was still low but it was growling. "I'm not even from here so like I can arrest you." I've seen enough shit to know that life isn't going to just step up and hand you help to your problems, you have to take them as they come."   
  
= =  
  
You drain me dry and make me wonder why I'm even here  
  
This Double Vision I was seeing is finally clear  
  
You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone  
  
Not fit to fuckin' tread the ground I'm walking on  
  
= =  
  
Jin-Mei still glowered at her. "You have NO idea what kinda problems I have lady!"   
  
"I think I do" Ming growled   
  
Jin-Mei got angrier "Have you ever had to watch someone you LOVE get taken away from you?  
  
"Yes I have"  
  
"Ever had a man beat you?"  
  
"Yes" Ming answered her rapid fire   
  
Jin-Mei went silent then.   
  
"Ask me more" Ming growled "Go on girl, get all your shit out and rub it in my face cause I've been down all those roads and I KNOW the kind of pain they can bring. Now I'm offering you a way out. But nothing's ever gonna get started until you start trusting someone again. Mainly me cause I'm not in the mood to find out I flew three hours for absolutely nothing."   
  
= =  
  
When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love  
  
You'll understand what I mean when I say  
  
There's no way we're gonna give up  
  
And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams  
  
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe  
  
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe  
  
= =  
  
*****   
  
CHINATOWN  
  
SEATTLE   
  
"Wei?" (Hello?) the housing manager addressed Ming when she came inside the door to his office. "Can I help you?"  
  
Ming stood directly in front of his desk, leaning her elbows on its surface "I'd like a set up for my friend in your housing area"  
  
The housing manager looked over his shoulder at Jin-Mei who shrunk back, as if trying to be apart of the walls. "Does she have any kids?"  
  
"Does she have any with her?" Ming snapped, matching his question with a snap back. "How much?"  
  
"Eighty a week" he told her "Utilities included." He reached under his desk and pulled out a stack of papers "Does she speak English?"  
  
"She just got here," Ming informed  
  
"Still should know how to speak English"   
  
"I'll translate for her" Ming stared him down with a fierce gaze snatching the group of about ten papers of the wooden desk surface.   
  
She found some seats in the back and motioned for Jin-Mei to follow her. "You need to fill out this paper work" she handed the younger woman a pen.   
  
"I guess you think I can write" Jin-Mei snatched the pen from her.   
  
Ming didn't say anything, just patiently waited while Jin-Mei filled out the form.   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
LADDER 12   
  
"Scuse me" Max caught the attention of one of the passing fireman.   
  
The fireman stopped to look at the woman who had called him, REALLY looking at her once he realized what she looked like. "Can I help you ma'am?" he still addressed her politely, despite what he was thinking in his mind.   
  
"Ty Aris workin' today?"  
  
"Aris?" the man repeated "Yeah he's in the quarters watchin' TV. Who am I gonna say it is?"  
  
Max shook her head "Not for me, got someone who wants to see him" she looked back to Cree who was standing behind her.   
  
= = = =   
  
"Cree?" Ty did a double take when he saw who was standing by the kitchen in the firehouse. He stood up from the sofa "Hey" he stepped over to her "What are you doin' here?"   
  
"Great seeing you too Ty" Cree returned  
  
"Sorry" Ty apologized; he smiled a second later and cupped her face for a long kiss. After he pulled back he looked at her "Is that better?"   
  
"Much" she smiled, giving him a hug. She HAD missed him. Phone calls didn't cut it.   
  
Ty looked over his shoulder "Think we're making Max feel left out"   
  
"I'm fine with how things are going" Max reassured with a smile of her own.  
  
Cree and Ty pulled back after a moment "So how long you gonna be in the city?"  
  
"Dunno" Cree informed "A week at least"   
  
You could almost hear Ty's eyes lighting up beneath the rugged fireman exterior. "Sounds good to me. How about I take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate your being in town? Cloth napkins, candlelight, the works"  
  
"Thought firemen weren't made of money" Cree asked  
  
"I have a little nest egg set aside for swooning a girlfriend" he reassured. He then looked over to Max "How bout we make it a double?"  
  
"Won't that ruin your swooning mood?"  
  
"I can swoon in any situation Max, believe me" Ty informed  
  
Max managed a smile again "Then I accept"   
  
*****   
  
BANGKOK  
  
CHINA   
  
Mei-Mei came awake again, not to noise, but to a small bit of sunlight peaking out from the single square window recessed in the wooden boards that made up the walls of the shanty. She was still on the floor, but Jon, the strange man had thrown a faded blue blanket over her in the night. She pushed it off her body and stood up. Her back and limbs were sore and kinky from sleeping on the hard linoleum of the shanty floor. She stretched her arms over her head and saw a milk white button up sweater and a pair of old jeans laying across the cot. She fingered the fabric.  
  
"They were my sister's"  
  
The voice startled her and she stopped what she was doing. Jon stood in the doorway in the same clothes he had on last night, another cigarette in his mouth. "They won't do any good for her now"  
  
Mei-Mei looked at the clothes, and turned her face up to Jon "I can't take these"   
  
"If you don't want to look like street trash you'll take them."  
  
Mei-Mei was still filthy and in the same dress she had worn for days. Blood and dirt and sweat was caked on her body and her looked like a mess of dead leaves, it even had dead leaves in it.   
  
"There's a hose out back" Jon went on "This shanty town isn't hooked up for indoor plumbing. But I moved some boards in front for privacy and there's one underneath so you're off the dirt. There's a bar of soap there too" he puffed his cigarette again before snubbing it out with his finger and pitching it in the dirt outside. He walked inside his hut and grabbed another blanket off his cot "Use this to dry yourself" he was now assuming that she was gonna accept his offer. He turned and walked away then, to either give her privacy, or abandon her, she didn't know.   
  
Mei-Mei finally decided that she WAS very dirty and there might not be another opportunity to wash herself. She gathered the items he told her about and headed outside. Jon was nowhere to be found, but she heard him lighting another cigarette so he was still somewhere nearby.   
  
Three boards were lined up against the outside wall of the shanty with one resting on it's side to allow the person access into the enclosure. She draped the clothes he had given her over one of the boards to keep them from getting wet. Jon hadn't given her any fresh underwear so after she stripped she gathered the bra and panties to wash them before she bathed herself.   
  
It was hard to bathe with just soap and a single hose that had only a thin trick of cold water, running out of it, but she managed to get all of dirt off her body. She squeezed the water out of her lingerie before putting them back on wet. She then dried herself and slipped on the clean clothes, leaving her worn dress in a heap in a receding puddle of water at the bottom of the board. The sweater was kind of small, but fit well enough once she undid the top two buttons. The jeans fit fine, she and Jon's sister wore the same size. She picked up her wet dress and removed the loose board so she could get out. She tore the dress into pieces and used one bit to put up her hair in a ponytail.   
  
Jon had come back around the side of the house "There's a noodle house four blocks away. I usually by food there before I go to work. C'mon" he finished his last smoke and threw it away "I'll buy. You need to eat"   
  
Mei-Mei slipped on her old high heal shoes and followed him  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
CHINATOWN   
  
"You should be fine here" Ming looked around the room that Jin-Mei had finally been assigned to after that mountain of paperwork. She walked around and saw a single closet bathroom with an old bear claw tub, but hot water came out of the spout when she turned it on. "Things seem to work"   
  
Jin-Mei looked at the double size bed with the tacky floral print duvet cover on it. Besides that there was a small kitchen with a mini fridge, a dresser, a TV, a folding chair and a night stand.   
  
"It's not exactly the Ritz Carlton" Ming said "But it's safer then on the streets" she haded Jin-Mei the key to the 'apartment' along with a wireless phone "My number is speed dial one. Seattle PD is speed dial two." Jin-Mei took the phone "Don't use public phones" she also took out a manilla envelope and haded it to her "Keep this in a safe place"  
  
Inside the envelope was one thousand dollars all in hundreds that Logan had supplied her with along with a phony ID, Social Security Number, Driver's Liscense, Sector Pass. "You're name is Michelle Kong" Ming told her the phony names on the ID's. "The money is for food, clothes. I've paid for two months to live here so don't worry about the rent." A long pause "Be careful when you go out at night"   
  
She started walking away  
  
"Thank you" Mei-Mei's voice made Ming turn back around   
  
"You're welcome"   
  
  
  
= =  
  
I am a little bit insecure a little unconfident  
  
Cause you don't understand I do what I can but sometimes I don't make sense  
  
I am what you never wanna say but I've never had a doubt  
  
It's like no matter what I do I can't convince you for once just to hear me out  
  
So I let go watching you turn your back like you always do  
  
Face away and pretend that I'm not  
  
But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got  
  
(I can't feel the way I did before)  
  
(Don't turn your back on me)  
  
(I won't be ignored)  
  
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)  
  
(Don't turn your back on me)  
  
(I won't be ignored)  
  
= =  
  
*****  
  
SEATTLE  
  
5:50   
  
"You tellin' me that of all the times you've been movin' it with ya boy you STILL don't have anything to wear?" Cindy was watching Max rifle through her meager clothing selection in her bathrobe with her wet hair tied up.   
  
"We've never gone out to dinner before" Max argued, "He usually just cooks something there" Max was starting to get frustrated at her selection of tank tops sweaters and jeans. NOTHING was worthy enough of being worn out to a half decent resteraunt. Deck would die ashamed if he could see her now acting all girly, but Deck could go suck eggs. "I don't wanna look like a bike messenger tonight"   
  
"Sugah you never looked like a normal bike messenger" Cindy informed stepping over to Max "Sure your boy will love anything you're wearin'"   
  
"I don't need his pity" Max returned   
  
Cindy let that slide. She spied something in the back of the closet and pulled it out. It was the deep red halter dress that Max had lifted off that woman when she met Anselmo for the first time. "This is hot" Cindy looked harder at the dress "Girl I didn't even know you owned this"  
  
"Think it's too hoocy" Max analyzed   
  
Cindy cocked an eyebrow at her "Who told you that?" she didn't wait for an answer "It's good girl. Just let OC do your hair up nice and wear something dangling to cover where the scarlet don't cover your brown sugar and you'll be set"  
  
Max looked at her "Really?"  
  
"Girl-" Cindy was still in awe at the way Max talked about herself "you're one of the finest momma's I've ever seen and ya still act like you need to wear a potato sack to hide ya self" a pause "Well not on Original Cindy's watch." She held up the dress to Max's body. "Tell ya this is gonna be sweet,like candy"   
  
*****   
  
FOGGLE TOWERS   
  
Logan examined his choice of clothes for the evening. A black double-breasted pinstripe suit with a crisp white linen shirt and black silk tie. He was going to wear his blue one with the red tie, but decided that this one suited him better, and also made him look more like a man, not a little boy being dragged out to dinner by his parents in his Sunday suit. /All I need now is a gangster hat and a saxophone/   
  
"Logan?" Max's voice echoed through the living room. She had obviously picked the lock and came inside.   
  
"In here baby" he called back /Baby? Where did that come from?/ Before he could correct himself out loud he heard her footsteps approach.   
  
He turned to face her and was take aback by her appearance   
  
= =  
  
Candy, I call my sugar Candy  
  
Because I'm sweet on Candy  
  
And Candy's sweet on me   
  
= =  
  
Max stood in front of him in the dress she had worn only once. The fire engine red hue was muted slightly by the light black designs speckled on it. Her hair was pulled in a lose sweep with a few pieces of hair falling around framing her face, making it look a little messier, but also defiantly sexier. Cindy's shoes were on her feet. A one inch black suede heal that wrapped around once near her ankle in a criss cross and buckled in back. To complete the look Cindy had leant her a dark burgundy colored tear drop shaped stone attached to a silver chain that sat just an inch and a half shy from the valley created by her breasts. Besides that her makeup was almost the same, except for the darker wine colored lipstick.   
  
"Aren't you gonna say anything?" Max broke the silence "Or did I get all pretty just for something to do?"   
  
Logan managed a light laugh then, in between trying to breathe normally. /My god that DRESS. I didn't even know she HAD that dress/ "You look incredible"   
  
A smile came to Max's face then "Thanks"   
  
==  
  
He understands me  
  
My understanding Candy  
  
And Candy's always handy  
  
When I need sympathy  
  
= =  
  
"You look really-" Max continued after a minute "Smooth" that was the only word she could think of to describe the way he looked in his suit. Kinda a combination between a street dangerous thug, and a wine and dine lover.A hot combination in her books.  
  
= =  
  
I wish that there were four of him  
  
So I could love much more of him  
  
He has taken my complete heart  
  
Got a sweet tooth for my sweetheart  
  
= =  
  
Logan smiled then to "I guess we should get going then"   
  
"Kay," Max agreed and turned to leave the bedroom, Logan following her.   
  
Max's leather jacket was sitting on the back of his couch. She grabbed it and started to put it on but felt him stop her.   
  
"May I?"   
  
She turned to him "Well maybe just this once" she allowed him to help her on with her jacket.   
  
After he finished he held his arm out, gesturing towards the door "Shall we?"  
  
She offered him a smile "Love to" she walked out with him close behind   
  
= =  
  
Candy, it's gonna be just dandy  
  
The day I take my Candy  
  
And make him mine, all mine   
  
= =  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
SECTOR ONE  
  
The sector cop held out his hand, gesturing for the motorcycle to slow down. "Can I see your pass buddy?"   
  
Jondy removed her helmet and let her wavy brunette hair drop down. "I'm new officer. I don't have one" she let a coo in her voice come out and pratically batted her eyes at him.   
  
"You can't come in the city without a pass miss" the cop informed  
  
"Please?" Jondy faked begged "What am I gonna do? You think a lil ol' thing like me's gonna hurt anyone?"  
  
The cop looked like he was about to waiver, on the same route Cree had used to get into Seattle the first time too.   
  
Another cop came out of the booth and whispered something to the guy at the barricade. The cop looked out to the night, then back at Jondy "Miss are you aware that there's someone behind you?"  
  
Jondy turned around then and looked. After a minute she saw it, another bike a few yards behind her.  
  
"Dismount from the bike ma'am"   
  
"C'mon" Jondy argued "I don't even know that person. I couldn't do anything even if I DID know who it was"   
  
"It's a precaution I have to take, even if I know you can't hurt anyone. Now step down from the bike please ma'am"   
  
Jondy sighed, but dismounted.   
  
"Over here please" the cop pointed to a spot on the road   
  
Jondy complied and now stood a few inches away from the cop "Nice to know that you still believe my story."  
  
The cop nodded "Sorry ma'am, but I have to do my job"   
  
"It's fine" Jondy argued, then looked the cop square in the face "Too bad I'm a liar" she jumped up and kicked him in the balls. He fell, gasping.  
  
The other cop came out with a Sig Sauer, aiming at Jondy "Freeze! I won't shoot, you're unarmed, but hands up!"   
  
Jondy raised her hands in the air "Okay relax" she stepped over to the man  
  
"Stay right where you are ma'am!"   
  
Jondy kicked the gun out of his hand and then kicked him in the stomach, dropping him to the ground. Once he was down. she knelt over him "Whose says I'm unarmed?" she punched him in the face and knocked him out. She flexed her bicep around "These look like arms to me" she climbed off him and stared at the two sector cops "Nighty night boys" She climbed back on her bike and slid under the barricade.   
  
She drove into the city a few more yards before stopping at a bunch of trash on the side of the road. She dismounted and turned around seeing the "bike" the cops were talking about stop a few feet behind her.  
  
She approached the rider "What the hell do you think you're doing following me?" Jondy got up in Zack's face. He was the mysterious biker who had been behind her.   
  
"You shouldn't have come here Jondy" Zack argued  
  
"Yeah well you shouldn't have tried to fuck me back in San Francisco but it's a little too late for "shouldn't haves" Zack"  
  
"I can't let you risk more lives by giving into phony sentiment"  
  
"She's my sister Zack!" Jondy spat "Yours too in case you forgot. What ever happened to not abandoning you unit?"  
  
"A lot of things have changed Jondy. This isn't Manticore anymore. This is the real world"   
  
"You haven't changed, cept for a bigger head to store all that bull crap in"   
  
Zack grabbed her by the shoulder then, whirling her around to lock his arm around her neck "I can't let you do this"  
  
"Nobody tells me what I can't do but me" she pulled out of his grip by back flipping over his head and throwing him to the ground flat on his back "Welcome to the real world Zack" she left him there and mounted her bike again.   
  
"You're only bringing the crap on yourself!" Zack called out to her  
  
Jondy started her engine and flipped him off before driving away.   
  
*****   
  
GOLDEN POND  
  
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE   
  
"Place is nice Ty" Max commented to the other man seated across from her at the round table.   
  
"Guess he's good for something" Cree made a joke of it, sipping from the water in front of her. "Ah!" she looked over at Ty "Did you just kick me?"  
  
"Hey you asked for it" Ty joked back  
  
Cree laughed, "Yeah well I guess I did" she set her wine glass down "Wow Max, that dress is, awesome. Only you could get away with it"  
  
"You could too" Max argued  
  
"No way" Cree complained, "I'd be hanging out in all the wrong places" Her own dress was a dark coffee colored silk high neck halter style dress that cut off about mid thigh. It was Ming's dress, who insisted that her daughter wear it out tonight. Like Max her hair was up, but in a high ponytail with the tail part curled in soft loose curls.  
  
"Any kind of hanging out is fine by me" Ty said  
  
Cree turned to him "Honestly boy, you need to put YOURSELF out tonight."   
  
"You'd be the woman to do it" he wagged his eyebrows at her  
  
The waiter chose that moment to come to their table "Are we ready to order?"  
  
"Yeah I think so" Ty opened his menu "What do you have in the way of a chicken breast?"  
  
This time Cree kicked him from under the table   
  
"Ow-I meant thigh, leg--steak, how's you're steak tonight?"  
  
The waiter shot him a strange look "Tonight's special is a three oz Porter House with a Wortishire and sautéed mushroom sauce and it comes with a side of asparagus and slivered almonds.   
  
"That's fine" Ty agreed.   
  
"And would the gentlemen care to select the wine for the evening?"   
  
"No actually THAT gentleman would" Ty gestured over to Logan.   
  
The waiter turned to him "And what is your desire Sir?"   
  
"A 1998 bottle of Rochelle Chablis" Logan responded  
  
"Excellent Sir" The waiter responded. After taking the rest of the orders he disappeared  
  
"Say you handled that really well smooth talker" Max got in on Ty's ribbing   
  
"I try Max, I try"   
  
*****   
  
SECTOR TEN   
  
Jondy stood in front of a door of an old run down building. All her sources told her that this was the right place. She could just pick the lock, but something tonight made her want to knock.   
  
"Hang on a sec" a voice inside announced. The door opened a second later to reveal an African-American woman standing there in bare feet. "Something I can help you with sugah?" she was also checking Jondy out. All of the X5's were created to be attractive. Helped in missions if there was a diversion  
  
"You got a roommate?" Jondy hoped her sources weren't screwed up   
  
"She's out on a date right now boo" Cindy still eyed her critically, she didn't just trust women just cause they were hot.   
  
Jondy took out the image she had scanned and unfolded it in front of Cindy's face "Does she look like this?"  
  
Cindy looked at the drawing "Yeah girl" she backed away, letting Jondy inside the apartment. She had a feeling she could trust her.   
  
Jondy looked around the small apartment.   
  
"Over here" Cindy pointed to a picture of Max and her she had stuck to her fridge  
  
Jondy leaned in closer to the image, absorbing the way Max looked like all grown up. The drawing didn't do it justice. She pulled back "Is she-Is she happy?"   
  
"Yeah pretty much girl" Cindy didn't get this woman, but she looked very sad, and moody at the same time. Something about her reminded her of Max.  
  
"When will she be back?"  
  
"Hard to say girl" Cindy informed "Sometimes she gets in real late"  
  
Jondy turned around then  
  
"Where ya goin'?"  
  
"I have to go" she started heading towards the door, but then stopped and turned back around "Can I come by tomorrow?"  
  
"We'll be at work" Cindy said "But you can drop by. It's at Sector 7. Place called "Jam Pony Express"  
  
"Who should I say came by?"   
  
Jondy opened the front door "Tell her it's Jondy"  
  
"Just Jondy?"  
  
"She'll know who it is, trust me" Jondy left out the door, leaving Cindy still standing in her kitchen wondering who she really was.   
  
*****   
  
"Hello?" Logan answered his cell phone after it rang  
  
"Hey boy it's me. Is my girl around?"  
  
"Yeah" Logan responded "Max" he handed her the phone "it's Cindy"   
  
"Hey boo"  
  
"Hey what's up?"  
  
"You had a visitor tonight"  
  
"What do you mean visitor?" Max stood up from the table so she wouldn't be rude. She stood behind Logan.   
  
"Some chick came to see you tonight. Real fine sistah. Seemed real anxious to find ya"  
  
"A chick?" Max picked up her wine glass and raised it to her lips  
  
"Mmm hmm"  
  
"She say what she wanted?"  
  
"Claims she just wanted to see you. Said her name was Jondy"  
  
The glass shattered in Max's hand a second later as she crushed it, forgetting to hold back her super strength because she was startled. The room got very bright, and she grouped at the table.   
  
"Max-" Logan stood up "What's wrong?"  
  
"Sit down girl" Cree informed, "You look a little pale"   
  
Logan pushed her into her seat.  
  
Max didn't pay any attention to them, still clutching the phone "Is she still there?"  
  
"She said she would come back tomorrow. Told her where we work. Girl what is going on? And what happened? I heard something break. You okay?"  
  
"Fine" Max reassured "I gotta go. See ya at home?"  
  
"Aiight Sugah" Cindy agreed, kinda hesitantly cause she still didn't know what that sound was or what really happened  
  
Max hung up  
  
"What is it?" Logan was kneeling next to her "Max?" he touched her hair when she didn't answer  
  
Max glanced at the others around the table "Scuse me" she stood up and headed towards the front door.   
  
"Will she be okay?" Ty asked  
  
Logan didn't answer, but got up to follow Max  
  
Ty and Cree shared a look with each other  
  
*****  
  
= =  
  
I've been searching for you   
  
I heard a cry within my soul   
  
I've never had a yearning quite like this before   
  
Know that you are walking right through my door   
  
= =  
  
"Max!" Logan caught up with her outside near front doors, beside a potted plant "Wanna tell me what's going on?"  
  
She stopped walking and turned around to face him "It's Jondy"  
  
"Your sister Jondy?" Logan asked  
  
She didn't nod, just went on "Cindy said she came to see me tonight. And left after she found out I wasn't there." She caught Logan looking at her "But Cindy said she's coming back tomorrow" a pause "but I still can't just believe it. I mean I haven't seen her since she pulled me out of the ice. She was only nine years old. A nine-year-old little girl, and now she's all grown up and she came to find me but I wasn't there. I wasn't there after she came all that way-"  
  
"Max" Logan interrupted her rambling.  
  
The looked at each other for the longest second before he stepped forward and hugged her.  
  
She allowed him to hold her, not saying anything this time.  
  
= =  
  
All of my life   
  
Where have you been   
  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again   
  
And if that day comes   
  
I know we could win   
  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again  
  
= =  
  
*****   
  
Jondy stopped her motorcycle by an alleyway. She dismounted and leaned next to it. A rat hissed at her before scurrying away into the night.  
  
Jondy crouched by her bike and picked up a pebble. She hurled it into the night before wiping at her face and trying to blink back the other tears  
  
  
  
= =  
  
All of my life   
  
Where have you been   
  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again   
  
And if that day comes   
  
I know we could win   
  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again  
  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again  
  
= =  
  
*****   
  
Songs used are:   
  
Ming fighting with Jin-Mei- "Harder to Breathe" (Maroon 5)  
  
Ming talking to Jin-Mei in Chinatown- "Faint" (Linkin Park)  
  
Max and Logan meeting at Logan's apartment- "Candy" (John Mercer)   
  
Jondy and Max's scenes at the end- "Again" (Lenny Kravitz)   
  
R/R please 


	10. Who We Are

Chapter 10 "Who We Are"  
  
A/N: Sorry for the long wait..writers block, computer got hit by lightening, yadayada  
  
*****   
  
JAM PONY  
  
NEXT MORNING   
  
"Does this look like a rest stop to you?" Normal walked out from behind his desk to yell at his staff. "Everyone of you has functioning legs according to my research, so either use them to pedal or use them to find another job!"  
  
"A pep talk Normal" Max grabbed some packages off his desk "You shouldn't have" she gave a fake sniff, putting her hand to her face "I just can't deal with all the emotions dammit"   
  
"You're gonna deal with a new job missy if you don't get outta here" Normal pointed to the door "Move it! Bip bip!"   
  
Max walked away with a smile on her face  
  
"Gotta admit boo that was slammin'" Cindy held out her hand, waiting to share the props.   
  
Max slapped it, pulling her backpack on her shoulders.   
  
"You got someone named Max workin' for ya?"  
  
Normal scrutinized the young woman standing in front of his desk "'Working' is the loose word in describing what these kids do"  
  
"Is that a yes or a no?" there was an impatient color in her tone. She had better things to do then to be put down by a guy in three feet thick glasses.  
  
"There's a Max right behind ya boo" Cindy interrupted Normal's speech.  
  
Jondy turned around to see the woman she had met last night, standing beside another woman, with dark long brown hair, and deep brown eyes. Eyes that looked very familiar to her, so brown.  
  
/FLASH: Max and Jondy as kids at Manticore lay in the snow, looking at the stars, pointing things out to each other. The night sky is quiet and the air is still./  
  
"Maxie?"   
  
= = = =  
  
*Hello my friend we meet again  
  
It's been a while where should  
  
we begin... feels like forever  
  
Within my heart are memories  
  
Of perfect love that you gave to me  
  
I remember*  
  
= = = =   
  
Max couldn't move at first. She just stood where she was, starring at her.  
  
/FLASH: Max caught only a glimpse of Jondy's face before she was gone, leaving her to scramble out from the surface of the ice alone./   
  
Jondy stepped closer "It's really you isn't it?" she locked her arms around Max "I can't believe I found you"   
  
= = = =   
  
*We've seen our share of ups and downs  
  
Oh how quickly life can turn around in  
  
an instant  
  
It feels so good to reunite  
  
Within yourself and within your mind  
  
Let's find peace there*  
  
= = = =   
  
Max didn't do anything for a long second, but then she returned the hug Jondy was giving her strongly. "How'd you know where to look?"   
  
Jondy pulled back "I beat it out of Zack"   
  
"He told you?"  
  
"No" Jondy shook her head "I scammed it outta him." She took time to absorb how Max looked. She was so pretty. Her eyes, her face, everything. One hand touched Max's hair "You always said you wanted to have long hair"   
  
= = = =   
  
*When you are with me  
  
I'm free... I'm careless... I believe  
  
Above all the others we'll fly  
  
This brings tears to my eyes  
  
My sacrifice*  
  
= = = =   
  
"I hate to interrupt this tender scene-" Normal cut in   
  
"Then don't" Cindy cut in on HIM "Can't you give people five minutes?"  
  
"It's been longer then that"   
  
Cindy pounced on him "Boy you need to get a life"   
  
Normal left in his natural huffy state, walking out like he was the reigning god of the universe.   
  
Max was left in the moment of actually having Jondy here after all this time. She was so different then the girl she remembered, but there were things about her that had never changed, like her smile. It was a rarity in a Manticore environment. When Jondy smiled it made Max forget, just for that instant that she had been bred and was being conditioned for something she had no say in.   
  
"Wow Maxie," Jondy finally found her voice again "Look at you lookin' all good" she smiled her famous smile "You must have a man"  
  
"Girl does," Cindy "Not into mens myself, but they'll do that to a woman." She looked at Jondy "Sistahs will too"  
  
This got Max to smile "Jondy, Original Cindy. You two met last night"  
  
"But I didn't know your girls name was Cindy then" Jondy informed "Glad to have the meeting though"  
  
"Me too sugah," Cindy agreed "Glad my boo finally found you. She's been looking for a while."  
  
"Makes two of us," Jondy stated, turning her gaze back to Max. She looked almost like she was ready to cry "Look I can't break down here, it'll spoil my bad girl image in front of your male co workers, so lets say we hit a place tonight and play catch up?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan" Max concurred, "There's a place we hang out after work. Bar called Crash on 32nd and Industry Way."  
  
"Seven o' clock I'll be there" Jondy said "Mean time is there a place a girl can take a shower in this city? I feel like something Col. Ly-dicker dragged through the mud-" she realized that she was talking in front of Cindy and stopped abruptly, gauging the other woman's reaction.   
  
"It's aiight," Max picked up on Jondy's bad vibe "She's coo'"   
  
"Ain't in the habit of ratting out any sistah to the bad ass peeps on her ass" Cindy said in her defense   
  
"You've got a great friend here Maxie" Jondy wasn't afraid of being compromised anymore.   
  
"I know" Max said with a smile at Cindy "I'd let you shower at my place but our super sees hot water as a luxury item and we're not paying luxury taxes."  
  
"Whose you're super?" Jondy wanted to know   
  
"City of Seattle watering commission." Cindy informed "Not a common practice of theirs to keep runnin' hot juices in a condemned crib. Have to bribe cops to even keep the cold stuff flowin'"   
  
"You guys are squatters?" Jondy asked, "Damn, Pulse happens and everyone thinks then can shake down the masses. Ain't our fault a bunch of covert freaks decided to turn off America's juice and create another Third World so why are they depriving us from the basics? How'd they like to take a bath in ice?"  
  
"Amen girl" Cindy agreed whole heartedly "Might not be able to change their minds, but you can still catch a hot shower at Max's squeeze. He's in the upper rent district of Seattle so they don't turn of the juices."  
  
"Wow an upper class guy Maxie I'm impressed. Hope he's treatin' you right"   
  
"Boy is, otherwise Original Cindy be all over his ass with a smack down" Cindy said in all honesty.  
  
"Can I speak for myself?" Max asked  
  
"Sure boo go ahead" Cindy continued, "Not like you'd say anything different. Your boy makes you happy, end of story."  
  
"So I can now ask free bathroom privileges out of him?" Max asked "Just cause we're dating?"  
  
"Girl you're already gettin' free bedroom privileges out of him, and the bathroom is right across the hall-"  
  
Jondy raised an eyebrow at this "Glad at least one of us is bein' satisfied" She couldn't help it, she was grinning like an idiot.  
  
"C'mon" Max cut in, very happy to change the subject to something else besides this whole de-briefing of her sex life "I'll show you where it is"  
  
"Just give me the directions Maxie, I'll find it on my own." Jondy looked over to where Normal was spraying an entire can of fly spray on three flies. "Wouldn't want to get that boss on your ass"   
  
"Wouldn't be the first time" Max argued "It's in Sector 5, Foggle Towers. Penthouse"   
  
"Penthouse? Whoo girl you've scored" Jondy said   
  
"Strangely enough I'm dating him for this OUTSIDE material possessions"   
  
"Kay, thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it turns out" Jondy started to leave.  
  
"Hey-"  
  
Max's voice made her turn back around "Give your lock picks a break and just knock on the door-"  
  
"Like a civilian?" Jondy blew it off "What kinda entrance is that?" Max shot her a stern look "Okay sis, I promise, I'll enter just like a 'normal girl' or as close as I can get to one"  
  
"Seven right?"  
  
Jondy smiled "You got it girl" she stepped back over to her and gave her one more hug  
  
"Behave yourself at my boyfriends" Max said  
  
"If the guy's a hottie I can't make any promises-" she ducked when Max tried to smack her upside the head "Just kiddin' Maxie" she leaned over and kissed her on the cheek "I see ya tonight" she walked out of Jam Pony.  
  
Max watched her go "So what happens now?"  
  
Cindy stepped over to her one step "You go partay tonight with your sistah" she draped an arm over her friend's shoulders.  
  
*****   
  
BANGKOK, CHINA   
  
= = = = =  
  
*End of passion play, crumbling away   
  
I'm your source of self-destruction   
  
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear   
  
Leading on your deaths construction   
  
Taste me you will see   
  
more is all you need   
  
you're dedicated to   
  
how I'm killing you*  
  
= = = = =   
  
She was back in the brothel, with the pimp there, raping her. He stood over top of her like the plague, dark and unanswering of her pleas to make him stop.   
  
"You're killing me! Please!" she begged and begged, but it was on deaf ears. He bounced up and down up and down, like a jack-in-the-box on a rampage.   
  
She felt her blood coming out of her like a sea and all the pain triple folded everywhere he touched her   
  
= = = =   
  
*Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings   
  
twisting your mind and smashing your dreams   
  
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing   
  
Just call my name, `cause I'll hear you scream*  
  
= = = =   
  
She kept screaming, begging for her life, but he never acknowledged her. Finally something did. Something called her name. She then realized where she was, but not before she woke up so violently that she heard something fall beneath her, something or someone.   
  
Her eyes came open into darkness and raspy desperate breathing. On the floor beside the small bed was Jon, picking himself up off the floor from where he fell after she flung him there.   
  
It had been a dream, a shit scary, piss-in-your-pants nightmare. Her clothes stuck damply to her from sweat. Things finally began to come into focus, the small hut, the bed, not the brothel or the pimp.  
  
"You were screaming" Jon now stood over her in the bed, a red mark on his forehead from where it had hit the hard linoleum. "I thought you were being attacked"   
  
Mei-Mei sat up, throwing the covers off the bed "I was" she ran a hand through the dampness of her sweat soaked hair "He was there again. Even in my dreams he doesn't leave me alone"  
  
Jon didn't say anything, just handed her a glass of water.  
  
She took it and drank like a greedy child, spilling some down her chin and panting again after she was done.   
  
There were several moments of silence before someone spoke.   
  
"Why are you really helping me?" Mei-Mei's eyes were barely visible in the soft light from the tiny dime store quality table light beside the bed "Do you want money for turning me in?"  
  
For a second it looked like Jon was going to slap her. Mei-Mei actually expected it. All men recently had been treating her like trash, why should he be different?  
  
Jon didn't slap her though, his hand found a lock of her hair and he simply smoothed it out. He still hadn't answered her question "It's dangerous to be so beautiful"  
  
"It's dangerous not to be" she blinked "When they come for you if you're not pretty they'll just kill you. If they like what they see they'll use you and sell you off, and you'll still be alive"   
  
"You call that being alive?"   
  
= = = =  
  
*O no, I see,  
  
I spun a web, it's tangled up with me,  
  
And I lost my head,  
  
The thought of all the stupid things I said,  
  
O no what's this?  
  
A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle,  
  
I turned to run,  
  
The thought of all the stupid things I've done*  
  
= = = =  
  
Her gaze turned upwards "I'm still here aren't I?"   
  
He leaned closer, like he wanted to kiss her, but she pulled away. "I'm a married woman Jon"  
  
"I know"   
  
"You can't take a run at me just because we are here together. It's not right. My husband is being tortured in jail because of me. The very least I owe him is to be faithful"  
  
"But you're already unfaithful" Jon argued, "Look what you've been doing"   
  
This time she looked like she wanted to slap him. "I was never unfaithful because I never had a choice." She turned away "Please go"  
  
"Mei-Mei"  
  
"I SAID go" she laid back down on the bed, hearing him sigh and then leave, and through the thin walls the sound of a cigarette being lit up.   
  
= = = =  
  
* O no I see,  
  
A spider web and it's me in the middle,  
  
So I twist and turn,  
  
Here I am in love in a bubble,   
  
They spun a web for me,  
  
They spun a web for me,  
  
They spun a web for me*  
  
= = = =  
  
*****   
  
FOGGLE TOWERS   
  
"I take it you're a fan of long showers?" Logan watched Jondy exit the bathroom from his vantage point on his sofa. She was wearing nothing but one of his blue bath towels. He watched her, not because he took pleasure in sneaking peaks at his girlfriend's sister while she wasn't there, but because this scene reminded him of the time Max had taken a shower in his bathroom after getting flung in mud during an Eyes Only mission gone bad. She had been so pissed off at him then, and he would never admit that the view of her in her towel wasn't exactly a bad one.   
  
"I'm a fan of anything that gets me clean and isn't freezing cold" Jondy stated, removing the towel from her head and letting her long brown hair fall down around her bare shoulders.   
  
"You're clothes are in the bedroom-" Logan wasn't going to complain at the relation of Max's parading around naked under a towel in his living room, but he still didn't understand why she didn't dress before coming out.   
  
"Maxie's not here" Jondy draped the towel that had been in her hair over her shoulder "And you're not committing unfaithful acts. It's a towel, not a peek-a-boo teddy. I just want my hair to dry out a little bit before I get dressed, walking helps"   
  
"Oh"   
  
"Hey I'm a soldier not a seductress. I'd kick your ass before I'd lust after you sexually"  
  
"That's very comforting"   
  
"What'd be even more comforting is if you had java in the kitchen for me to suck up"  
  
"There's a pot leftover from this afternoon that's still warm"  
  
"I'll take it"   
  
"I prefer clothes on in my kitchen Jondy" Logan stated   
  
"Fine" Jondy agreed "But if there's not coffee left in that pot they'll be hell to pay" she retreated to Logan's bedroom to change.   
  
While she was in there Logan poured himself a cup of the coffee, and sat at a stool on his counter. Jondy had just suddenly showed up at his door about an hour ago. He at first wondered who the hell this woman was, but after she said her name he stopped wondering. And after she said what she was there for he knew she was DEFIANTLY Max's sister. No X5 he'd met so far was very shy about what they wanted. If they ever wanted to ask him if he had any disposable enemas they'd use a bullhorn. She and Max looked to be about the same age. They had the same facial structure, except for Jondy's slightly longer chin. What really set her apart from Max were her piercing blue eyes. He couldn't tell if the color was natural or from contacts, but even his own eyes weren't that blue. She probably stopped a lot of guys dead in their tracks with that gaze.   
  
Jondy came so quietly behind Logan that he didn't even know she was there until he was startled when one of his stools seemed to pull itself back on its own.  
  
"Sorry" Jondy apologized, sitting in the stool "It's just a force of habit being that quiet" she picked up a coffee mug sitting in front of her, inhaling the smell "Wow, this is the good stuff huh? You must have more money then what you already spent on this posh set-up"   
  
"You're welcome" Logan said what she didn't  
  
"Thank you" Jondy went for a joke. She sipped the steaming liquid "Oh yeah, I don't get this kinda good stuff at my place" she took another sip and then turned to Logan "How long have you been seeing Maxie?"  
  
"Just a few months" Logan answered picking up a coffee cup under his arm, and drinking from it. It was an honest answer. They knew each other for longer, but those were the times they never acted on their feelings.   
  
"She seems happy" Jondy went on "I haven't seen her in eleven years but I can tell. Only time she was that happy back then was when Jack or Ben were telling their stories, or when she was with me" her eyes adapted a far off look in them.   
  
"Max is glad she found you" Logan said "She's been looking for you, for all of you ever since I've known her."  
  
"Not that easy when her idiot brother throws her out of her own loop" Jondy spoke of Zack "He said she was too reckless to be found." Jondy blew it off with a passion "Lying piece of shit. What kind of big brother is he?"  
  
"I'm sure he was trying to look out for her"  
  
Jondy turned to him with a 'yeah right' gaze "You don't honestly believe that BS? I'm sure Zack's said some not to pleasant things about you dating Maxie, but you didn't just turn tail and run."   
  
Logan didn't say anything, but she was right.   
  
Jondy sipped the coffee again "Anyways, thanks for the java, I gotta get going"  
  
"Where?" Logan wasn't trying to sound rude. He just wanted to know "You're not staying anywhere, at least I don't think so"  
  
"Perceptive man," Jondy smiled "I'm just gonna drive my bike around the city, see what there needs to be seen"  
  
"Does every X5 have a gene in them that makes them want to own motorcycles?"   
  
"Deck put everything else in us," Jondy analyzed "I wouldn't be surprised if he went to town on that too" she stood up from the stool. "You're coming to that place, Crash tonight right?"   
  
"I thought it was a sister reunion thing" Logan said   
  
"There's room for more. Max's friend Cindy is coming and she's not my sistah."  
  
"Yeah but she's a woman, and it sounds like girls night out"  
  
"Logan cut the crap" Jondy cut in "You're going, end of story. So stop trying to excuse you're way out of it or I'll think you're purposely trying to ditch me, and I'll have to kick your ass if you do"  
  
She sounded so much like Max at that moment that Logan had to remember who he was talking too. "All right, I'll be there since you put it like that"   
  
"Kay" Jondy agreed "But remember I'm a woman of my word." She left out the front door to where her motorcycle was.   
  
*****   
  
Ty had finally managed to coax Cree into coming up to his apartment. She had only been here once. That night when she told him her terrible past. It still mortified him how some men could treat women. Especially when one of those women was his.   
  
He and Cree were on his gray couch watching a Steelers game. His roommate was out for the night on a date. It was nothing really romantic, just a football game and a couple of Coors Light. No fire, no wine, no roses; Ty wasn't Logan.   
  
"Aww c'mon man, that was in bounds" Ty watched the referees go off to look at the feed for the challenge. "Stupid pansy Huston, they whine too much"   
  
"Steelers are still winning 15, 12" Cree spoke up beside him. She was leaning against his shoulder, her head resting more on his chest covered in a blue sweater.  
  
"Yeah but Huston's slowing down the game" He felt her shift her position and it was distracting him from the game on the TV. "Not easy to watch if you keep moving"  
  
"Want me to move?" Cree asked, although she knew the answer. She was just gauging his reaction on it.  
  
Ty kissed the top of her head in response. This REALLY distracted him and he turned his attention away from the game to kiss Cree more fully.   
  
She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and allowed herself to be lowered down on the couch under his weight. The couch cushion pressed up against her back and scratched her skin just barely from the woven surface.  
  
Ty's hands went under her shirt, roaming over her back and bra strap. Cree's sigh of pleasure was audible. She felt his hands moving towards her front towards her tummy and breasts.   
  
/FLASH: "This is the right way to do things bitch," hands grabbed her breasts and a mouth sucked and bit, while the rest of him was preoccupied with fucking her She gasped, then she screamed /  
  
Cree pulled up, forcing Ty to take himself off her body. "I'm sorry-"  
  
Ty turned to her "What's wrong? Was it too fast?" he tried to touch her face by she brushed him away   
  
"I just cant-" she stood up from the couch and grabbed her jacket  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa" Ty stood up "Can't do what? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable-"  
  
"It's not you okay!" Cree snapped at him, stopping in her stride to turn back around "It's me," her tone was softer this time Don't you get it? It's always gonna to be me. I was enjoying it, every minute of it until my shitty memories kicked up. It's never gonna go away Ty. I can't be with another man without remembering where I was for the past three years, how many DIRTY fuckin' hands were all over me."  
  
"But I'm not them Cree," Ty walked over to her "I want to be the one guy in your life who didn't screw you over."  
  
"I don't want your pity Ty!" Cree retorted, then her tone dropped again, becoming sad "I'm tired of being so broken. I lost three years of my life. THREE years Ty when I could've been with my family, going to school, hell just being a girl. But I gave all that up because I wanted to grow up and have a boyfriend."  
  
"You were just a kid then," Ty said "You didn't know what you know now"   
  
"I don't WANT to know what I know now" Cree said "I have a million and one memories that I would just as rather not being in my brain. And I have you," she blinked, almost on the verge of tears "I want to be with you, but it's not fair to you to just be with the pieces of what I use to be."   
  
"Cree-" this time she allowed him to touch her face, wiping away a tear   
  
"I'm sorry, I can't do this now," she ducked under his hand and went out the door slamming it.   
  
He watched her go, and heard his door shut, resting his head against it   
  
= = = =   
  
*I am ready for love  
  
Why are you hiding from me?  
  
I'd quickly give my freedom  
  
To be held in your captivity  
  
I am ready for love  
  
All of the joy and the pain  
  
And all the time that it takes  
  
Just to stay in your good grace*  
  
= = = =   
  
Cree still remained in the hallway. She slid to her knees, and cried in her outstretched hands, tears hitting the carpeted hallway of the apartment building.   
  
****  
  
Ty had moved from the door and picked up a plate sitting on the counter in the kitchen and threw it hard against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces on the kitchen floor, and he made no move to pick it up. He grabbed the left over beer from the can and sat on a stool on the counter top, not really drinking it, just looking at it.  
  
= = = =   
  
*I am ready for love  
  
Would you please lend me your ear?  
  
I promise I won't complain  
  
I just need you to acknowledge I am here*   
  
= = = =   
  
****   
  
= = = =  
  
*If you give me half the chance I'll prove this to you  
  
I will be patient kind, faithful and true  
  
To a man who loves music  
  
A man who loves art  
  
Respects the spirit world and thinks with his heart*  
  
= = = =  
  
Cree heard the smash, and waited for a long moment before picking herself up and putting her jacket on. She turned to look at the closed doorway, taking a deep mournful sigh and turned to walk in the other direction, wiping more tears coming from her eyes.   
  
= = = =  
  
*I am ready for love  
  
If you'll take me in your hand  
  
I will learn what you teach  
  
And do the best that I can  
  
I am ready for love  
  
Here with an offering of  
  
My voice, my eyes  
  
My soul my mind  
  
Tell me what is enough  
  
To prove I am ready....  
  
For love......  
  
I am ready...*   
  
= = = = =   
  
*****   
  
CRASH  
  
Jondy pulled up to the establishment, checking it out through her biker helmet. Place looked decent. She entered the building, past the bouncer who was checking her out. /Greedy bastard/   
  
Inside people were laughing, drinking, playing pool. It took her a moment to find where Max was. It was a back room accessed by stairs.  
  
"Hey girl over here!" Cindy waved Jondy over.  
  
Jondy gave a wave back approaching the table. She saw Logan there beside Max no less.   
  
"Glad you heeded my threat boy" Jondy said  
  
Logan turned to her "I just came to be with Max"  
  
"And I'm queen of Manticore" Jondy returned, she looked to Max   
  
"Oh" Cindy cut in again "Jondy this is Cree, girl from out of town-"  
  
Jondy looked over to the other woman at that name. Her eyebrows furrowed   
  
/FLASH: "This is Cree, my sister Ms. Sam"  
  
"Nice name"/   
  
"Cree?"  
  
Cree looked up, surprised to find her little sister's teacher sitting there in a bar in Seattle "Jondy? I thought your name was Sam"  
  
"You two met?" Cindy asked, confused  
  
"She teaches an art class my sister is in San Francisco" Cree looked harder at Jondy "Or is that a lie along with your name?"  
  
"Whoa girl calm down, and let the sistah explain herself" Cindy put a hand on Cree's arm.   
  
Jondy sat down, taking a sip of beer "I didn't lie to you Cree." She took another sip "Sam is my name. ONE of my names"  
  
"So you're a con artist?"   
  
"Girl let me talk" Jondy cut in "No, I'm not a con artist. My real name is Jondy kay? I never knew I would come up to visit my sister Maxie here and find out you know her too."  
  
This got Cree's attention "You and Max are sisters?"  
  
"What are DNA says" Jondy agreed "I'm sorry I gave you the run around. In my line of work I have to be cautious"  
  
"You mean a teacher?"   
  
Jondy took a long sip of beer "It's too complicated to get into right now. Let's just say from here out, we're on even ground."  
  
Cree analyzed it for a moment "Kay. And sorry, but it's just the way I am"  
  
"Not a prob girl." Jondy admonished "We're from the same mold" she raised her glass again, but then stopped short "What the hell let him out?"  
  
Max turned around to see what Jondy was looking at, and saw Zack entering Crash's back room. "How did he find you?"  
  
"How the hell does he find anyone Maxie?" Jondy said "What he did to me in Frisco wasn't enough he has to keep hounding my ass" Max gave her a look so she added "Explain later"  
  
Zack finally spotted the table, observing it like a mission zone. "Jondy what are you doing here?"  
  
"It's a bar Zack" Jondy snapped "And I'm over twenty-one"  
  
"You shouldn't be here"  
  
"I told you I came to find Maxie"   
  
Zack turned then to Max, then Logan, who he didn't have a very nice look for   
  
"Cut the BS Zack, Maxie's not the plague. She had a right to know I was alive." She took another sip of her beer.   
  
Zack turned again to see Cree there, "Who's she?"  
  
"She's a friend" Max said defensively "And this is a private party"  
  
"Cut the crap Maxie" Zack stated, "Do you realize how much you could compromise by being here?"  
  
"Oh yeah Crash is where all the covert action happens" Max made fun of him "How about you? You follow Jondy all the way here and you're worried about HER exposing things?"  
  
"I needed to look out for her"  
  
"Well HER can take care of herself Zack" Jondy said in her defense "So unless you've got an apology for the shit you tried on me back in Frisco I suggest you take your covert ass outta here" she glowered at him.   
  
Zack didn't say anything, but he left, none too happy.  
  
"Is that a boyfriend?" Cree asked once he left   
  
"Hell no" Jondy spat "Brother, pain-in-the-ass"   
  
"Oh" Cree said, "I thought we had something else in common" she was reeling from all that had happened. First with Ty and then with al this new information about Max.   
  
"Sugah," Cindy spoke to Cree "You aiight? Thought you were suppose to be with Ty?"   
  
Cree didn't say anything.  
  
"Did he hurt you girl?" Cindy was getting mad "Cause I'm good for the smack downs"  
  
"No" Cree said, "He didn't do anything. I just-needed to get out"   
  
"Guess I'm not the only one with secrets" Jondy admonished sympathetically.  
  
Cindy stood and moved over to Cree to hug her. The other girl accepted the gesture, which did get her crying again, very quietly.  
  
= = = =   
  
*Tell me your secrets   
  
And ask me you questions   
  
Oh let's go back to the start   
  
Running in circles   
  
Coming in tales   
  
Heads are a science apart  
  
Nobody said it was easy   
  
It's such a shame for us to part   
  
Nobody said it was easy   
  
No one ever said it would be this hard   
  
Oh take me back to the start*  
  
= = = =   
  
SEATTLE  
  
UNKNOWN LOCATION  
  
10:50 PM  
  
Ming walked around the dark night, her switchblade at ready should she need it. She wanted to see what the night life in Seattle posed. Jing-Mei came from off the streets, and there were most likely more all over the city, and with Cree on a date with Ty she could scout out the area alone, in her element. The only sound was of her feet hitting the ground.   
  
She passed by one warehouse, trying to open the door, but it was dead bolted. It was too dark to see anything inside and she didn't have a flashlight. She backed away from the door, deciding to come there in the morning.  
  
***   
  
= = = =  
  
*Nobody said it was easy   
  
It's such a shame for us to part   
  
Nobody said it was easy   
  
No one ever said it would be this hard*  
  
= = = =   
  
The figure walking by the warehouse got no notice from the occupants inside.  
  
On a bed a man straddled a woman, an enormous man with flabby white rolls. He fucked her very hard and very long. She was a new girl, so she had to be "broken in" She couldn't even see him, but she felt his tremendous weight. She had been chained to the bed because she had tried to escape two days ago. The marks from lashes on her stomach showed of another part of her punishment.   
  
She felt him in and out of her for a long time, and she didn't even have the energy to scream this time  
  
= = = =  
  
*Oh take me back to the start*  
  
= = = =   
  
Songs used are:   
  
Max/Jondy Reunion-"My Sacrifice" (Creed)  
  
Mei-Mei 's dream -"Master of Puppets" (Metalica)   
  
Mei-Mei and John talking and John leaving-"Trouble" (Coldplay)   
  
Cree and Ty-"Ready for Love" (India Arie)  
  
Cree and Cindy at Crash and ending scene- "The Scientist" (Coldplay)   
  
R/R please 


	11. Yourself

Chapter 11 "Yourself"  
  
A/N: Sorry for the looong awaited update...I've been neglecting my guys, plus bogged down with stuff I waited soo long to do at school, plus lack of sleep icky...sorry again  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
LADDER 12  
  
Ty sat on his couch with his head in his hands, just there, a being on his furniture. It had been hours since Cree had left his apartment, but the smell of her body still lingered in the air around his whole place.  
  
/My god, what the hell went wrong? Should I have pushed so hard?/ His hands rubbed through his hair vigorously, massaging his whole scalp with fast fingers. Things between him and Cree had been so right for so long, but now, everything seemed to be falling apart. This was not something he couldn't understand, nor did he want too. He just wanted to know where it went wrong.  
  
The relentless ticking of the clock on his fireplace now bugged the hell out of him. It sounded like a sledgehammer pounding non-stop against a slab of hard granite. In an act of pure rage and emotion he stormed off his couch and grabbed the timepiece with a quick hand, throwing it hard against the wall of his apartment where it, in a complete cliché, shattered into a million pieces, or rather actually three large chunks that strewed themselves all over the fake maple boards that made up the floor.   
  
Now there was nothing in the apartment to hear except his own tortured thoughts. He leaned against his fireplace mantle, placing his head in his hands, almost on the verge of tears, but ones that he suppressed. Firemen weren't supposed to cry, not over something this trivial. But with Cree NOTHING was trivial.  
  
Ty's roomie chose at that moment to parade inside the apartment, liquored out of his mind and happier then hell, something Ty did not want to deal with at this moment.  
  
"Hey man, why so down?" he laughed like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard in his entire life. "I got all the juice brotha" he walked a few more staggered steps, overly pleased with his own sense of euphoria to realize that his buddy was in the middle of a crisis of consciousness.   
  
Ty didn't know whether to clock him or ignore him. He wanted to do the later, but when his friend came at him with an empty Coronas bottle, waving it around like a victory flag, Ty launched himself at him like a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) coming out of an armor plated Humvee.  
  
"Man shut the hell up!" he actually bashed him in the head, but with a soft fist, since he didn't want any murder investigations hanging over his head at the present moment "Sell your hooch to someone else" he pushed the bottle away where it toppled with it's tee toddling owner onto the hard floor with a quiet thud.   
  
His companion just lay where he fell, passed out to the world. He remained at Ty's feet like a faithful old hunting dog and only when Ty was sure he was completely zonked in la la land did he take the almost empty bottle of booze from his still hands and downed some of the alcohol.   
  
= = = =  
  
I'm here without you baby,  
  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
  
And tonight girl, it's only you and me  
  
= = = =   
  
Ming checked in on her daughter, who had fallen asleep atop the cheap hotel bed covers in her clothes. Her jet-black hair lay strewn at her side in complete disarray and there were faint tracks of tears cried out hours ago on her face.  
  
It all broke her heart, to see her baby so sad. But such was the case of love. She had called Peter at home via a secure cell of course to let him and Jade know that she and Cree were fine. It was so good to hear Peter's voice. Even though Ming was independent, and capable of great things on her own, she never denied the fact that being connected with her man always lifted her spirits and made her feel alive.   
  
She slipped into black leather gloves, sliding them on her hands like they were a second skin she had to be careful not to break and pulled a matching black leather jacket over her body. These clothes along with the dark black sweater made her look like a cat burglar out for a score.  
  
She had wanted to go back to that warehouse she had spotted earlier this morning, but she had gotten back to the hotel to find Cree sitting there, looking lost and crying and all thoughts of everything else flew out the window as she went to comfort her child. But now, Cree seemed better, tired, but she would bounce back from that, and Ming had made a promise to herself to check out that abandoned building. Something wasn't right about it. Rats didn't make the kinds of noises she had heard.   
  
Her shoes barely made any noise as she all but skulked out of the hotel room, pocketing the key card and checking the clip on her service weapon before sliding it into a shoulder holster she had hidden under her jacket. Her switchblade wouldn't cut it tonight if she ran into trouble, hence the reason for the gloves. It was terribly illegal, but so was the crap those bastards were doing to those women.  
  
The night seemed to embrace her as she moved with a fast pace down the mixture of crumbling asphalt and dirt that made up the fallen apart roads of this section of the city. She had deliberately chosen to check into a hotel just a few hundred yards from the warehouse; it would be better to stake out this way and not have to worry about activity going on when she had to sleep.  
  
The metal of the warehouse roof greeted her first and she shinned a large halogen light in a small rectangular window, just for a moment, to get a picture of what she was dealing with. The light clicked off and she set tucked the light back into the belt that made up her police issue waist holster. With one hand she clicked off her gun's safety before walking ahead into the darkness, it was better to be prepared then bleeding out cause you didn't decide to think for that split second.   
  
No noise reached her ears at first, but she still listened for something, waiting for the right moment, or the right noise to spring. Eventually she heard it, a quiet moaning, followed by something else a little more discrete, a rattle, like chains. She followed the noise through the large one roomed area with the dirt floor. Eventually it gave way into a smaller room, no windows, and one tiny lamp on the floor, amidst other things.   
  
"Let her go!" Ming's gun was out at the same time as her mouth  
  
Two figures turned then. The one on top, a skinny man with peach fuzz for brown hair and camo cargo pants over his razor thin legs snapped to her then, like a soldier, but he was no soldier, just a skank with a hang up for rape.   
  
"Who the fuck are you?" he didn't even climb off of the person beneath him, who lay there with large eyes, not saying a word. She only looked to be about fourteen with eyes that were almost black and baby fat still residing in her cheeks. She was naked and he was naked except for his pants with the fly open. There was cum on her body and the smell of semen was putrid in the air.   
  
"Who am I?" Ming was in a rage that this skank had the nerve to ask her who she was when she was the one with the gun. "I'm the house mother you prick and lights out time for these girls happened a long time ago. So I suggest you get your skinny ass off of her before I shoot something that will only make you recall fucking in memories" the aim of her gun from this point was dead on to take away his "advantage"   
  
He was unarmed, and the wind could probably blow him over, but like an idiot he still tried to lunge at Ming. She didn't fall from his attempts to throw her to the ground and instead shoved him back hard by his nuts, which produced her desired results when he gasped like a fish out of water.   
  
Ming was kneeling next to the girl with her legs chained down to the floor. She wasn't even on a mattress, the bolt holders for the chains were locked into cement blocks were secured to the floor.   
  
/Times like this I'm glad I'm a girl/ Ming removed a bobby pin, or rather a lock picking tool, that looked like a bobby pin from her hair and set to work on the chains on the girl's legs. The nifty little device she had gotten off the black market back home worked it's charm and freed the child from her shackles.  
  
She looked deathly afraid, like she would shatter at a single touch. "It's okay" Ming tried to comfort her, but she was frayed at seeing blood on the girl's private areas. To Ming she was Creek during those three missing years. This had been her life, and Ming was only now starting to see what it was really like.  
  
The girl was shaking like a leaf, and still naked. Ming tore off her jacket and slipped it over the chlid's form to give her back some decency. She didn't know if she could walk and she didn't want to take the chance. So Ming scooped up the fifteen-year-old like a small infant and headed towards the first available exit. Footsteps made her turn sharply around, thinking the sleaze had gotten up from her knock down. But what she saw startled her even more. Girls, ten year olds and teenagers like this one were there, ten of them in all, some not even from America because they called out to her in Spanish, Chinese, and French. She only spoke one of these tongues, but she understood them all.   
  
"Let's move!" Ming pointed towards the door, a universal code that everyone could understand. She shifted the girl she was holding and pulled out her weapon. These girls were a high commodity, and whoever brought them here wasn't going to just let them walk out the door.   
  
Yelling came at her next as big burly men with hand guns ran down a stairway hidden behind a section of boxes.   
  
"What the fuck are you doing whore?" the guns went off, but Ming being a cop dodged them all, zig zagging and weaving in and out, keeping the girl's head low so she wouldn't be hit. "This way!" all the girls understood her movements even though they didn't understand her words. They ran out the door, some not even dressed and some so scantly clad that pin up girls would be put out of business. The gunfire continued until Ming reached an alley way with her group. Some of the girls fell into the soft mud that had collected there from the rain the night before. They panted and gasped, and the ones that could speak the same language did so to each other, trying to make sense of what they were doing. One of them tipped over a trashcan and in their hypersensitive state some of the girls screamed, while others screamed at them to keep them from giving away their location.   
  
"We die!" the French girl spoke these English words to Ming "He bring us back!" her words weren't perfect English , but they were real, and scared.   
  
"You can't go back!" Ming kept her voice down, but still had power in it "They'll kill you now if they find you" she looked at the girl she was holding. She looked so much like Cree that it both scared and angered Ming. This could've been Cree, this could've even been Jade. "You have to trust me! Going back isn't an option!"  
  
Some of the girls looked back and forth like frightened birds into the night, always checking for the hit squad to drag them back to their hell.  
  
The French girl turned to Ming, her green eyes shining at her, showing more strength the she had seen earlier "Okay. We go with you"   
  
Ming had no idea how the hell she was going to move ten girls from this sect of Seattle to a safer place without someone noticing. They weren't your typical school age children. They were dressed for what they were doing, and it would attract attention.  
  
She looked for a way out in the labyrinth of mazes and alleyways of this area of the city. Light from a nearby streetlight illuminated a sign for a Chinese bakery, but one that had another sign on top of it "abandoned" The sector police had shaken down another business because they didn't bribe them enough and now the place stood empty. It was disrespectful to move into a place that had been stolen from someone, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  
  
Ming started to run towards the building, stopping a the corner of a fish market a few feet before it to make sure the other girls caught up and understood where they were headed.   
  
This time there was no need for lock picking. Looters had most likely been here before her to raid what was left of the place. The door opened easily, the Venetian blinds slapping against the window that was recessed in it. Ming motioned for all the girls to enter, and they ran like frightened cattle inside the tiny store.   
  
The smell of Chinese pastries filled the air, though it was a stale smell since nothing fresh had been baked here in weeks. The girls crowded around the glass display of breads and dumplings, many with hunger on their faces. Some were so thin that their ribs stuck out in needle like format under their skin. Feeding them took second place to other things back at their brothel.  
  
Ming set down the girl she had brought in, making sure she was stable on her feet before taking out her flashlight and smashing the display case glass. She slid her hand inside the jagged hole she created to pull out the food and distribute it among the girls. They took it like a lifeline and ate so fast that she was sure some of them would throw up.  
  
The child she had brought in accepted her portion of a round tan colored red bean filled flaky pastry, holding it in her hand like it was gold. Her eyes looked to Ming like her savior as she ate the food, but not without it's share of wariness. She had been burned too many times by people offering her a better life with candied treats.   
  
While the girls ate Ming paced around the tiny store constantly on the look out for the men who had chased them down. Her gun was poised in her right hand, ready to be used just in case. Her eyes kept shifting from the girls to the night air that was very calm and still with only the faint sounds of industrial noise echoing off the buildings. The only sound that continued inside was the noises the girls made by gorging themselves on the pastries. The French girl, who Ming still didn't know the name off wiped off her mouth with a gentle swipe of the back of her hand before approaching the older woman. Ming did not notice it before; because it was dark, but the girl's eyes were a very deep blue now, hazel eyes that shifted colors. In her hand was a single bite of pastry she had resisted eating in order to offer it to her.  
  
Ming held up her hand, declining the food "You need it more" she watched the girl's face show some relief, because in actuality she was starving and she went back to the pastry hungrily.   
  
Looking around the small store Ming spied a small metal-framed cot, a tiny fold out table that looked like it had been purchased at a cheap five and dime store. Whoever had lived in this place before they had been cast out had obviously lived in this tiny enclosure; even their shoes remained on the floor next to the metal, small brown loafers with strings on their top portion. The whole set up looked so homey that it was almost cynical considering what they were in here for.   
  
The girls had finished eating, and they sat on the filthy floor in their tiny micro mini dresses, trying in vain to keep the fabric on their ass to keep some semblance of warmth. They placed long tired arms and legs on each other, exhausted down to their very bones.   
  
Ming turned to these girls, they were all younger then her, they could've been so much more then this existence permitted them, they could've been happier. In that moment Ming saw everything her baby had gone through in the past three years. /Oh god, these girls were my baby/  
  
She could see Cree's face inside every one of the girl's eyes, each moment of torture that she went through, and a terrible ache started in her heart, much harder then any physical pain could create.  
  
Ming sat down on that same cot she had spied, placed her head in her hands and cried, her gun clattering to the floor, but she didn't even notice it.  
  
The French slowly picked up the gun with one hand, the metal cool against her palm. Without a word she handed it to Ming, tears in her own eyes. Not a single word had been spoken, yet everything was now out in the open.   
  
*****   
  
A/N: #2: Okay..first off let me say, sorry if that was kinda spacey, and long overdue and short..i haven't sleep good in the past few months..stress..ick..i've been insomniac, like averaging MAYBE two hours or three a night so it's been affecting my memory my vocabulary..you name it it's done it. I just wanted to get something up so you guys know I'm still alive..it's so hard trying to write well when your sleep deprived for this long, words are hard to come by. I know it's not an excuse, but it's frustrating esp with multitasking.  
  
But enough bitching, I'm trying to gather more thoughts with this fic..had them for months..now have to find them again. Just hope this will be good enough to keep you occupied until I get more posted...but I should really stop complaining..THESE Girls have a real reason to complain right?  
  
oh and CHoices is still alive too...stress..blah blah..i should just shut up and write huh?:)  
  
The Song I used in here was: Only You and Me (Three Doors Down)  
  
Peace  
  
mystic 


	12. The Meaning of Reality

Chapter 13-"The Meaning of Reality"  
  
A/N: No more sporadic stuff for me..it's not fair to the rest of you. Hehe. Oh and a quick mistake on the "second location" of this story. Bangkok is a city in Thailand NOT China.   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
LADDER 12   
  
"Three point conversion!" Ryan shouted, raising his hands in appreciation at the game on the screen.  
  
"That was just feeding off a lucky interception," Jerry, a twenty-four year old fireman complained about his team loosing royally, even though it was just an old play off game from 2018. Neither one of them had seen the game. But Jerry had stumbled upon a copy on DVD and had wanted to settle an old bet he had with Ryan when the game broadcasted on TV that Oakland HAD in fact kicked the crap out of New England.   
  
"No my man that was all skill." Ryan snagged up some more Cheetos in his hand and scarfed them down before Jerry had a chance to say anything.   
  
"At least there's some level of skill in this room," Jerry returned. He put up his hands to fend off the avalanche of brightly colored cheese snacks Ryan was now smacking against his head. "Hey I was only preaching the truth."  
  
"And so was your girlfriend when she met up with me last night." Ryan could be something of an asshole when he was trying to make a zany comment.   
  
"Oh you're gonna, get it for that shit head," Jerry hissed, tipping the wooden bowl of Cheetos in Ryan's lap and poured the rest of his Sam Adams over them.  
  
Ryan jumped when the beer hit his lap. "Fuck that's cold!" He shimmied up the back of the couch like someone had just lit a fire under him.   
  
"Funny that's what your last date told YOU when she graded your moves." Jerry came back. His motto: the only way to tell off an asshole; be an asshole right back.   
  
"Hey, ladies!" Ty shouted at them. He was sitting at the long gray fold out table with an open copy of "Black Hawk Down" resting on its surface. "If you two want to continue the cat fight, there are plenty of good clubs down town for that kind of thing." He was leaning against the wall in the matching fold out chair, defyinig the laws of gravity by not tipping over. His arms were crossed over his chest; the bare muscles revealed from his blue firehouse shirt flexing against his action.   
  
Jerry was the first one to pounce on him, throwing the empty bowl at his head. Though he was only doing it to be funny. "Now what would that hot girlfriend of yours say if she found out you were into sniffing out ass downtown?"  
  
"That's not what I meant you dill hole," Ty pitched the bowl right back at him causing it to bounce off his super spiky hair.   
  
"Ow, damn," Jerry rubbed his head from the point of impact. His was the tannest out of all of them, being half Latino, and it showed on his arms, his face. He had the kind of exotic good looks women would lust to have their heart broken over. "Face facts dude. You seriously need to get laid. How long has it been since your last fix?"  
  
"You make it sound like I'm a drug addict man," Ty looked back down to his book, pretending to be engrossed. However, he had been re-reading the same two paragraphs about the kid who fell out of the Black Hawk for the past ten minutes. His fellow fire fighters were way too loud for him to get into his book, but there was no other place to go. The garage down stairs still smelled like crap from where Jerry had forgotten to clean up after the Dalmatian mascot "Scooter" for three weeks. He couldn't go to the bunks either. Aaron Kipling had just broken up with his fiancé, and Ty had seen him go in there with a Christina Agularia poster and a bottle of hand lotion.  
  
"I would be addicted to something as hot as that Scheshwan Spicy number you've been bangin'," Ryan raised an eyebrow at his remark. "Seriously you could've scored better on the gong banging side of China my brotha."   
  
"Man Ryan, you're as white as marshmallow and you're speaking like you watched drive bys outside your window as a kid." Jerry said. He took a sip of his beer. Ryan loved to pretend that he wasn't a white boy from Farmer Creek Indiana trying to act ghetto. And Ty, who had lived for years on the south side of Chicago and Jerry born in the projects of Detroit let it slide, finding it completely hilarious.  
  
"I'm just layin' it down straight aiight." Ryan notified. He didn't know when to shut up. "Any Chinese bitch that looks as fly as that is a great fuck investment."  
  
"That's it." Ty hissed in a low growl. He slammed down his book and jumped Ryan, landing him on his back with Ty leering up at him. "My girlfriend is JUST Chinese, got it bitch?" He banged his head down on the pavement. "You ever try to lay that "'TV-ghetto' crap on me about her again I'll fix it so no woman find you a good fuck investment anymore."  
  
"Chill man I was just messin'. Stop hatin'." Ryan got out, crawling out from under a furious Ty. He pulled himself to his feet and straightening out his shirt.   
  
"Am I walkin' in on something personal?" A female voice entered the mixture of males.   
  
All eyes shifted back to Original Cindy who stood at the entrance of the firehouse living quarters dressed for an evening of clubbing in a scarlet halter-top, black leather laser pimpster pants, high-heeled black boots and a gold arm bracelet.   
  
Ryan immediately forgot about his confrontation with Ty and started blatantly ogling Cindy. "Sorry baby we can't take visitors." He stepped closer to her, inhaling to see if he would catch a whiff of perfume, or maybe sex smells indicating she was already hot for his suave self. "But if your working tonight I'm sure I can arrange somethin'." His hand moved out to touch her bare arm.  
  
Cindy took this opportunity to smack him right across the face. "Work that out scank. Ain't nobody be touchin' Original's Cindy's arm like he thinks he can get a free lunch. This kitchen's closed with triggered bitch slaps at the entrance." She pushed past Ryan with an air of superiority, but laced with the more important pissed off attitude that she rightly deserved.   
  
Cindy walked right up to Ty. "Mr. Aris we have to talk."  
  
"I'm on duty tonight I can't go anywhere with you," Ty informed. The statement was actually a partial lie. He had swapped his overnight shift with another firefighter and was just hanging around the firehouse because he didn't feel like being alone in his apartment at the moment.  
  
"Fine I'll break it down here." Cindy looked up to his face, which was a good two inches higher then hers. "You left Cree's broken heart out all over the ground for Original Cindy to have to pick up the pieces. And when it comes to my girls I have issues with cleaning up the messes some playa playa dropped on her."  
  
"It wasn't like that," Ty defended. "She left my apartment on her own, I didn't do shit to drive her out."  
  
"I don't care if aliens ran her out with light sabers, all I know is my girl is in pain over you Ty, which is something you brought on."  
  
"You don't think I'm bothered by this Cindy? This isn't all just one sided." Ty went on,raking a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm here at my job reading war stories just so I can picture some soldiers fucking entrails instead of her running out on me."  
  
"The girl has been through a lot, she has her reasons for hesitatin' at a relationship." Cindy stopped her conversation with Ty for a moment to turn around and face Ryan's roaming eyes. "You better get your eyes off my ass before you loose them." She took two large steps away from him.  
  
"Cree doesn't get to own the farm on bad times," Ty snapped her back into their discussion. "I don't know what it's like to have lived through the kind of hell that she did, but I already had a girl walk out on me and got a bad wrap automatically cause I'm the one with testicles. Never mind the fact that she shoved some BS on me about being pregnant just to get cash money out of our break up."  
  
Cindy digested all of this new information for a moment before speaking again. "You need to talk to her Ty. Immediate past assessment aside, you're aiight in Original Cindy's books and I'd hate to see you two go down cause of lack of communication."   
  
"Life isn't that simple Cindy you know that." Ty's voice dropped down a few notches. He wasn't angry anymore, just frustrated.  
  
Cindy looked him full in the face, "You love her don't you?" Before he got the chance to respond she went on, "Don't lay any of that 'I haven't known her that long' shit on me before you contemplate things. Cause sistah girl is all about you. You move her furniture, rock her world and take out her trash. So don't pretend that there aren't thing inside your gut that you know are there."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling you know her better then I do?" Ty crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"She's my boo Ty. Women know lots of intimate details about their home girls that the men in their life don't. But you have Original Cindy's word that I won't eva' know her they way you do."  
  
"Baby I'd love to know her the way you do," Ryan kept trying to pour on his fake 'let's get down' voice. He appreciated every glare Cindy shot him; mistaking them for looks that she reciprocated his feelings.   
  
Cindy got right up in his face. Her breath hot on his neck for reasons having absolutely NOTHING to do with her being turned on by his moves. "The only thing you're gonna learn is the sound of anotha slap across that dawg droolin' face if you don't back off!" Her hand moved to slap Ryan smack dead center across his face.  
  
Ty grabbed at Cindy's hand to prevent the inevitable move, looking towards Ryan in a warning glare. "Ryan man, Go check to make sure Scooter isn't trying to break any of the hoses again."  
  
"He wasn't breaking them man, he was gettin' it on," Ryan corrected Ty with what could be described as a 'sex look' plastered on his face.  
  
"Then why don't you join him?" Ty was three seconds away from manually extracting the smile off of Ryan's face. "Gotta find a way to get SOME kind of action."  
  
Ryan was pissed off now at the insinuation, but he couldn't think of any good cut downs to throw back to Ty. He made a sound in the back of his throat that could be interpreted as a growl and flipped Ty off as he pushed past him to the back of the room where a fireman's pole led down to the garage level of the firehouse.  
  
"That boy needs to take one hand off himself and raise it up to find a better job then fake ass ghetto thug." Cindy was more then pleased that Ryan had opted to leave. Even Normal was a more decent human being compared to him.  
  
Jerry couldn't help the laughter that emitted from him at Cindy's remark. He tried unsuccessfully to stifle the noise in his palm. "How about just the fake thug from the fake ghetto?"  
  
Cindy's lips pulled back in a Cheshire grin at that remark. "If this was a church boo you'd be gettin' my 'amen'"  
  
"Original Cindy-" Ty held out his hand to introduce Cindy to Jerry. "Jerry." He shifted his gaze to the other man. "She's a friend of Cree's."  
  
"Sure the 'original' aspect of 'Original Cindy' mean's you're a woman that broke the mold after your casting." Jerry's said smiling at her good naturedly, not at all like the sleazy 'give me some' look that Ryan had laid all over her. Even though Ty had already informed him of Cindy being a lesbian, Jerry couldn't help the fact that he found her attractive.  
  
Cindy returned the smile, she of course wasn't attracted to Jerry the way he obviously was to her, but the man was all right in her books. "Original Cindy thanks you for the props suga"  
  
"You refer to yourself as "Original Cindy?" Jerry asked, not meaning it as a snub, it was merely an observation. Another lazy but impressed smile worked its way across his face. "I like a woman who knows how to represent herself." He took a long, seemingly painful pause. "But according to my man Ty over here you enjoy representing with OTHER women-"  
  
"If I didn't swing with the hot momma's Jerry I'd be all up in you like brown sugar goes in my coffee." Cindy reassured the man, letting him know that he could've had a shot if she wasn't into women the way he was.   
  
"So you talked to Cree?" Ty cut in with this question, changing the subject from Cindy's sass and charisma.   
  
Cindy turned back to Ty, a more serious look coming over her face. "I tried, but her momma told me she was sleepin'. We had some communication at Crash before she sacked out though. She's takin' it pretty hard."  
  
This time it was Ty who was digesting Cindy's words. "Everything was going great, but then-" he paused for a moment to nervously bite on his lower lip. "I just don't know what the hell went wrong. I want to treat her the way I would any other girl I've dated, but yet at the same time I'm still tryin' to figure out when I have to walk on eggshells because of her history until she gets over it." Here he gave a humorless laugh. "Hell who am I kidding? This isn't the kind of thing you just get over. And you're right Cindy, I love her, but I don't want to restrict it to handholds for the rest of our relationship."  
  
"This isn't about you," Cindy told him straight out. "It's about understanding where Cree comes from." She took just the smallest step closer to him, then said: "While you were livin' out in a world where you got to decide what you would do when you woke up she was bein' defiled and humiliated, and if she can only work up to hand holds for the time bein' boo, you hold out your paw and accept it."  
  
"I'd listen to her Ty. She dates women and she IS a woman," Jerry added his two cents to Original Cindy's suggestion. "I think she knows what she's talkin' about." He didn't know about Cree's past but he wasn't about to let his friend be an idiot about a girl he was obviously crazy over. "Call her and tell her the fight was all your fault."   
  
Ty shot him a look. That was such a typical line for a guy to tell HIS guy friend to get back into a woman's good graces. "That'd be fine if we ACTUALLY had an argument man. People can just disagree sometimes."   
  
"To women all arguments are 'actual arguments' Jerry notified, making quotes in the air with his fingers. His gaze shifted immediately to Cindy. "No offense." The look on his face was apologetic, but with an underlying feature of someone who wasn't through making their point yet. "If you try to tell a chick that your spat was just some sort of philosophical clashing of minds, and had nothing to do with a simple fight, she'll whack you upside the head faster then you can blink."  
  
Cindy's gaze on Jerry now shifted to one of curiosity. "And where did you become such a wise shaman on women?"  
  
"I pieced it together over the years, mostly from the pages of 'O Magazine,'" Jerry stated, grinning at Cindy to let her know he was kidding. "But in all seriousness man," Jerry continued, turning back around to face Ty. "Whatever went down last night isn't worth spoiling a whole decent relationship over. Women like Cree don't come along everyday."  
  
= = = = =  
  
It still feels like our first night together  
  
Feels like the first kiss  
  
It's getting better baby  
  
No one can better this  
  
Still holding on  
  
You're still the one  
  
= = = = =  
  
"You don't think I know that man?" Ty snapped back, needing a way to vent out the emotions about Cree that suddenly came to the surface.  
  
"Talk to her," Cindy spoke up again, her brown eyes locked on Ty's. She didn't put her hand on his shoulder, that's not the way she did things. But her gaze held all the compassion that she was capable of mustering. "Don't let it end like that."  
  
= = = =   
  
First time our eyes met  
  
Same feeling I get  
  
Only feels much stronger  
  
I wanna love you longer  
  
Do you still turn the fire on?  
  
So if you're feeling lonely, don't  
  
You're the only one I'll ever want  
  
I only want to make it go  
  
So if I love you a little more than I should ...  
  
= = = =  
  
*****   
  
Cree had woken up two hours ago to an empty room. Her hair had gotten tangled in the night and she raked her fingers through it to work out the snarls. Her face felt very gritty and she felt partially dried tracks from tears that had run down her cheeks. /Shit I thought I was through crying in my sleep./ One hand moved to wipe the last few traces of moisture away.   
  
A quick scan of the room revealed that her thoughts were correct, that the room was in fact empty. However, she still called out "Mom?" just to make sure Ming wasn't just out of sight in the restroom or something. She stretched her arms over her head, pulling down the black tank top that rode up because of her actions. A quick check of the cheap flip style white digital clock on the oak nightstand told her it was '9: 15'. The black Seiko watch her mom had left on the night stand the day before was gone. Also Ming's issued 9mm handgun and holster were missing as well. The only thing that was left was the small silver switchblade that Cree usually had strapped to her ankle in a holster. Ming had taken it off of her during the night and set it beside the bed. But where was she? Where was she going packing with her police toys?  
  
Cree got up off the double bed so fast the top mattress slid apart from the box spring below it. She snatched up the switchblade sitting in its holster and strapped it to her leg before removing her black track pants. She then squatted by the bed for a moment in nothing but her black tank top and red bikini cut panties before unearthing a pair of army green cargo pants from her black duffle bag.  
  
Her black leather jacket was thrown across pine desk chair that matched the hotel desk it was pushed against She grabbed it and slid it on her body and then sat down to lace up her suede Sketcher boots. After her task was completed she tore off the first piece of paper from the complimentary legal pad that rested on the desk, jotting down a quick message with a ballpoint pen.   
  
"Mom, if you're back before I am, I went to see Ty. I just need to get some shit off my chest.  
  
~Cree"  
  
She wedged the note in the frameless mirror that hung from the front door of the hotel room before opening it and stepping out into the hallway.  
  
A check of her watch told her it was now '9:35.' /He'll still be working. I'll check the firehouse first./ She unknowingly fingered the tiny jade dragon pendant strung on a silver box chain around her neck. Ty had given it to her the last night she had been in Seattle before she had gone home to Los Angeles.   
  
/FLASH: "It's a Luck Dragon." Ty held out the necklace for her to see. I figured if anyone deserves luck it's you."  
  
Cree smiled, "What if I told you I don't believe in luck?"  
  
Ty grinned back "Then it's just sexy."/   
  
= = =   
  
Please forgive me, I know not what I do  
  
Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you  
  
Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through  
  
Please forgive me, if I need you like I do  
  
= = =   
  
She held onto the little dragon as if it would suddenly come to life and escape if she didn't have a firm grasp on it. /God why did I have to be so fucked up? He was only trying to be with me. It's not his fault I have so many fucking demons./  
  
She barely remembered getting down the stairs of the walk up hotel. Or of walking out into the light rain of the Seattle night. Her thoughts were running through her brain like a film reel, shooting dozens of images and memories of Ty. /But how could he love me? You can't love something if it's broken./  
  
Her shoes barely made a sound on the concrete as she walked down the sidewalk, not keeping track of the time anymore. She soon spotted the firehouse a good three hundred yards in front of her.   
  
She started towards, stepping over broken beer bottles and used condoms strewn out on the black asphalt. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something moving behind a dumpster, and it wasn't a rat or a pigeon. Moving closer, the object's form gave way to a human's, a woman with dark hair and brown eyes. A green handkerchief was stuffed in her mouth and her hands were bound with rope at her back.  
  
Cree approached her cautiously, kneeling down next to her. She reached over to undo the gag from behind her head. The woman jerked as if she had been electrocuted.   
  
"I just want to help." Cree worked on the knot with one hand, all the while the woman kept frantically shaking her head and shouting something at her, which was not understandable through the cloth.   
  
Cree finally succeeded in undoing the knot and pulled the fabric away from the woman's mouth.  
  
"No!" the woman cried out as soon as she could speak. "Es aqui! Mira!(He's here! Look!)Vas, vas ahora! (Go, go now!)  
  
Cree didn't understand any Spanish, so she couldn't get what the woman was saying. "You're okay girl, relax-" she felt a hand grab at her neck and throw her against the dumpster. Her head smacked against it hard, and she saw stars for a moment, but didn't have time to recover before she was grabbed again.  
  
"Well looky what we have here." The voice belonged to a man, barely that, in his early twenties, with a long dirty blonde ponytail and torn jean jacket. "Not bad for a haul today huh?" A knife clicked open in his hand and he held the silver blade against Cree's throat. "You can make me a pretty penny." He traced the knife down her throat, almost caressing her jugular and aorta with the blade.   
  
He glanced over at the other woman who was still crying out in her bonds.  
  
"Pero, Eres pero guapo! (Dog! You fat dog!)  
  
"You shut your trap bitch!" The man ordered. "Or I'll kill you right here!" He had placed her there on purpose, as bait to ensare a new victim.  
  
Cree's mind was going a mile a minute piecing together the sickening truth about what this man waned from her. /Hell no!/ Her mind was screaming. /I'm NEVER going back to that./ She grabbed at the metal clip in her hair, which was actually an ice pick and lunged at her capturer. Her movement caught the metal into his chest and he screamed at the pain.  
  
"You filthy slut!" He grabbed her hair and slammed her to the ground, landing her on chunks of broken glass that poked up at her through her jacket. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His gray green eyes glared at her. It was a look she had seen before, from countless men at the brothel. To them she was nothing more then a piece of meat for sale. "You don't EVER disrespect me again like that!" He slapped her in an act that drew blood across her face.  
  
She squirmed to get into a decent position to get to her knife. But his weight was crushing her, and she couldn't move her hands down far enough. "Get off me you mother fucker!" She bit him hard on his collarbone making him yelp and reel back. Seizing the opportunity she grabbedher switchblade and slashed at his throat.   
  
He coughed at the action, and blood splattered on her face and neck. But she ignored it and ran to untie the bonds of the woman. "Let's go!" Dhe didn't speak a word of Spanish, but the woman understood her.  
  
Cree started to help her up but her attacker had recovered somewhat and seized her by her long hair, yanking her hard against his body.  
  
"Where the fuck do you think you're goin'?" He positioned his knife at her neck. "I'm not lettin' an opportunity like you slink away from me." The slash at his throat had injured his larynx so much that his voice was only a soft, but still sadistic whisper.  
  
"Let me go you bitch!" Cree hissed. Even though she had a blade to her throat ready to slash at any moment she wasn't about to go quietly. She saw the knife rise in the air, and she braced herself to fend off the impending attack.   
  
A thud echoed in her ears, and the man was suddenly yanked off of her and slammed into the black dumpster. Cree backed up a few feet, and then knelt down to help the girl up.  
  
Cree couldn't make out the face since there was hardly any decent lighting in the area, but soon the light cast from a small street lamp partially illuminating the face of Ty seconds before he dealt a powerful blow to the other man. The action knocked the man down, and he coughed once more, choking on the blood starting to fill his neck before finally passing out.   
  
  
  
Cree finished pulling the girl on her feet, and her eyes shifted to Ty who was panting from his exertion. His eyes however, were not weary. They were filled with nothing but concern, concern for her.   
  
She forgot about the argument from earlier, forgot about all the obstacles that stood between them for that moment and ran over to him, embracing him hard around the neck.  
  
= = = =   
  
Please believe me (Oh believe it), every word I say is true  
  
Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you  
  
= = = =   
  
Ty hugged her back, just as strongly, running his fingers through her silky hair before leaning down to kiss her. He tasted a coppery flavor in his mouth and pulled back to see a trickle of blood descending down Cree's chin from a cut slashed in her lip.   
  
"Are you okay?" He traced the cut with his finger.  
  
Cree had to use all her will power to prevent herself from throwing her arms around him again. The situation certainly classified as one of those melodramatic moments, but that's not the way she did things. She had become too hard for that. There were no golden sunsets and professions of undying love in her life story.   
  
Instead of responding to his statement she turned back to the Hispanic girl who was still shaking behind her. Her brown eyes were huge now, pupils dilated so much that there was no visible white around their edges.  
  
"It's okay," Cree spoke in a soothing voice, the same tone her mother used to comfort her over scraped knee when she was little. "He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore."  
  
The woman's eyes drifted down to the still form of the man lying in a heap by the dumpster. His eyes were halfway open, revealing nothing but white since his pupils were rolled back in his head. His neck still oozed crimson and filled the air with the sickening smell of copper and iron that always accompanied blood.   
  
Her eyes turned back up to where Cree and Ty were standing. "Donde voy ahora?" (Where I go now?)  
  
Neither Ty nor Cree could respond to that statement, because neither of them understood what the woman was saying.   
  
The woman took their silence as a meaning of destitute. Her hands, raw and blistered from fighting furiously at her bonds, moved to cover her face. Her crying was very faint, blocked out by the deafening sounds of Seattle's nightlife. But the raw feeling that erupted from her could not be hidden by any amounts of noise.  
  
= = = =  
  
I'm so tired of being here   
  
Suppressed by all my childish fears   
  
And if you have to leave   
  
I wish that you would just leave   
  
'Cause your presence still lingers here   
  
And it won't leave me alone   
  
= = =  
  
*****  
  
BANGKOK, THAILAND  
  
(In Chinese) "Mama?" The little boy tried to move his arms but they were bound by rope behind his back. The blue scarf that was tied around his head blocked off any of his sight, blinding him into a darkness. Only the ceaseless 'drip drip drip' of water leaking out of an old air conditioner kept him company.   
  
"Mama?" His voice was very raspy because he had used it so much during the night, calling for his her. He had no idea where he was, or why he had been brought there. "MAMA-" A hand cut off his cries with a slap across his face.  
  
"Shut your mouth you little bitch!" His capturer's hot breath breathed down his neck, causing the child to shake from the fear. "Your mama isn't here. She's dead! I shot the slut myself." The capturer's words were a sloppy mixture of Thai and Mandarin that he only learned to communicate duties to his collection of Chinese hookers.   
  
The boy was only seven years old, and had never been out of China before his mother had moved them there, except once. So the Thai language was foreign to him. But his ears picked up the Chinese words for 'dead' and 'shot' from the man's mouth.   
  
"No! She's not dead! I want to see her! I want to see her now!" The boy began to yank furiously at his bonds. "Let me go! I want to see my momma!"  
  
The man slapped him again, harder, drawing blood across his face. "I SAID shut your fucking whole you filthy mongrel!" His hands reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver pistol. He cocked the gun and fired off three shots that hit the boy in the neck the chest and the belly.  
  
= = = =  
  
These wounds won't seem to heal   
  
This pain is just too real   
  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
  
= = = =  
  
"NOO!" Mei-Mei's eyes suddenly snapped open in the dark. She screamed again, feeling something from a living connection deep inside of her.  
  
= = = =  
  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears   
  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears   
  
I held your hand through all of these years   
  
But you still have all of me   
  
= = = =  
  
*****   
  
The boy's eyes rolled back in his head and he stopped struggling under his bonds, his hands falling limp at his sides. Blood began to leak out of the jagged holes left by the bullets.  
  
The man lowered the still smoking pistol in his hands, glowering down at the boy's lifeless body. "I warned you to shut your trap."  
  
A door opened into the drafty room, shedding a dull light inside from an ancient overhead light in the massage parlor entrance.   
  
"I need room," A sixteen-year-old girl whined. She tapped her lime green stiletto sling back sandals on the ground impatiently. Her hair was cropped just above her collarbone and dyed a mixture reds purples and oranges. She had one arm impatiently over the breasts of her peek-a-boo pink Lycra Go Go dress. The other was stuck in the crotch of her male companion, the movement of her hand job evident under his dress slacks. She was not a sex slave. She was a willing participant in the flesh trade, but with limited spaces for sex rings she shared the same accommodations as the sex slaves.   
  
"It's occupied right now," the man informed. "Take your job somewhere else."  
  
The girl looked over to the little boy's body lying soaked in blood leaning against a wall. She didn't scream, but her face was still shocked. "I'm telling the Mamasan about this!" Any assault busts on a massage parlor by the cops would cause them to loose their police protection, leaving them to be shut down or run over by rival operations.   
  
The man stepped over to the girl and slapped her. "Get lost little girl and take your walking dick with you!"  
  
The girl cried a little at the slap, but it contained more elements of a whine a child would make when they were sent to their room then a grown woman who had just been hit by a man. She 'hmphed' and grabbed the John's hand. "We go other room, come on." She started pulling him out of the doorway.   
  
*****   
  
(In Chinese)"NO! NO NO NO!" Mei-Mei cried into her hands, not noticing that John was awake and trying to pry her arms away from her face.   
  
"What is it?" he grabbed at her face with his hands, but she jerked away. "What the hell is the matter?"  
  
"They shot him!" She made no sense to John but she didn't care. Her eyes were so full of anguish. "They shot my baby! I can feel it-" She ignored the taboo she use to hold about being with another man, and threw her arms around John, sobbing furiously. "They're gone! They took away my children! Oh God my babies are dead-" the last words drifted into the sobs that choked her breath and shook her body. She gripped his body tightly as if he was her only protection from a world that would break apart any second and swallow her whole.  
  
= = = =  
  
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone   
  
But though you're still with me   
  
I've been alone all along  
  
= = = =  
  
John listened to her anguished filled cries for a moment before snaking one arm loosely around her body. She paid him no notice, lost totally in her anguish.   
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE  
  
CHINATOWN  
  
UNKNOWN LOCATION   
  
The tiny Chinese bakery now resembled more of a refugee camp then a place to transact foodstuffs with customers. There was not a single amount of floor space that wasn't occupied by the legs, arms torso or back of one of the girls. They all lay with their hands protectively hugging their breasts and crotches. This was a practice established only after years of having to keep Johns from trying to get extra pussy while they were sleeping.   
  
Sleeping was not an adequate enough depiction to describe the state all the women were in across the linoleum floor. Each one of them had simply passed out from exhaustion after consuming all they could hold of the Oriental pastries. The constant late hours they always kept at the brothel had drained them of even the primitive extra adrenaline humans' possessed when their bodies jumped over the point of exhaustion to force itself to keep going.   
  
Only Ming was still awake, staring out through the small crack she had opened in the door. The streetlights cast large shadowy figures from the high rises and condemned remains of what were once high rises. The barrel of her black 9mm handgun glistened under the tiny sliver of moonlight that beamed down from behind a particularly looming glass skyscraper. She had loaded a new clip into the weapon, and her hand was poised on the trigger to be prepared to unload it at anything that had been sent out into the darkness to bring the girls back to the brothel.   
  
Fatigue was no longer an issue with her. She was use to functioning at normal range without sleep. No cop in America ever got to their position without living through all night stakeouts and hostage situations that lasted for several continuous days.  
  
/What if sleezes from the brothel manages to find a little eight year old boy from the slums to come scout out our location? They will promise him five dollars, enough to by a candy bar and maybe a sandwich at some vending machine. They'll give him a piece, a small derringer size weapon he can hold easily. He comes charging at this place, gun drawn, shakily, but thinking ferociously about that sandwich and candy bar. He manages to squeeze off a few lucky shots and I have no choice but to shoot him in the leg. Being so small and thin from malnutrition he hits the ground fast, the gun slips from his hand and blood leaks out of him.   
  
No one notices the shots. No one wants to deal with the corruption of the police force and others just don't care about some dying street monger's kid. I never make a move to compromise my position or the safety of the girls with me. He slowly bleeds to death from his femoral artery through the night, a puddle of red pooling between his splayed legs as I watch, all I can do.   
  
In the morning the men will not come. They'll just figure him for a coward and try for something else. The child's mother will begin to wonder about him. Days will have past, we'll have move on from this location before she'll spot the body, now pale with rigamortis setting in, attracting stray dogs. She'll wail and cry, but she'll never know that his last thoughts were not of her, but of not being able to get his sandwich./  
  
"You have child?"  
  
Ming let go of her thoughts for a moment and concentrated on the face of the woman in front of her. Her brown eyes inquired the answer to her question, spoken in her best broken English.   
  
Ming nodded at her before answering: "Two daughters."  
  
The young woman absorbed the information, chewing on the reply for a moment and then asked another question: "How old they?"   
  
"One is fifteen the other is almost nineteen." Ming responded, with little to no emotion. She wasn't bragging about her children to her bridge club. She was presenting factual information to a victim of a terrible crime; there was a difference. A difference that only a cop would use in conversation.  
  
The girl's eyes widened. "Not children. Women." She informed to Ming. Back in her small village in the country side of the Yu mountains of China girls Cree's and Jade's age would be considered grown women, and would have already been living with husbands chosen by their parents. "My baby-" The girl placed her hand on her chest to signify herself, smiling slightly at the mention of her child. "She two. She stay with my sister when I look for apartment back home." It was a very common thing for any female sex worker to have at least one child. There was no rule about this; it was just a phenomenon of their created culture.   
  
"Where's her father?" Ming asked without a trace of judgment in her voice. She simply wanted to know.  
  
"He play me." The woman responded, using a very Western term. "He came into bar and promise to pay my fee, be my sugar daddy, but he left after two day."  
  
Ming's eyebrows rose just slightly. "You were a bar girl?"  
  
She nodded. "I had to work to get money for place to live." A lot of those who had wound up in the slave trade had started out as bar dancers, or pool girls. (Prostitutes who played pool with foreigners in bars in order to relax them enough to get them to agree to a sexual business arrangement.) They had no pimps, only old lady bosses, or 'mamasans' who ran the parlors and took a cut from their earnings. Pimps would come later, in the form of a client offering to pay their full debt owed to mamasan for all their clothing and living expenses. After getting a girl alone in one of the private rooms usually complete with a silver 25-inch plasma TV and waterbed, he would make an offer of working for him privately for better cash then she was earning now. The naieve country village raised hookers would agree to this and would find out too late that he was a member of the flesh trade. They would have no choice then. The mamasan would not take back girls who had run off with a pimp. "I work in brothel in country area near my village. Lots of nomads and farmers came to see us. But then huge American takes me away to seaport with other girls. We loaded inside big box. Some did not want to go-" her eyes clouded over in pain, remembering. "Many die by gun. We come to city at night. Black man take small group to warehouse. I try to get in touch with my daughter, but building has no phone."   
  
Ming stared at her for a long second, "You must love her very much." She had switched speaking from English to Chinese so her companion could talk to her without having to trip over her words.  
  
The woman smiled. (In Chinese)"From the day she was born. Some of the girls use their earnings for liquor, fancy clothes. All my money went to her. I want her to go to school and learn how to read, I never learned myself." She paused, and took a step towards Ming, examining her facial features with rapt interest. "You're like an angel of mercy. The influence of Christianity across China had reached her small village when she was a small girl and her mother had become devoutly Catholic, secretly of course, because it was illegal to worship Jesus in China.   
  
Ming shook her head, disagreeing, continuing on a second later, still in Chinese. "Angels believe in the good in every human soul. As a cop I know that there are people who embody no trace of goodness, who commit heinous crimes without any remorse. For some it's their profession and no one apologizes for just doing their job."  
  
The other woman agreed silently before speaking again: "Before I came here I didn't have an issue with my job. I was making good money, meeting interesting people. The men at the bar were more real and understanding then the dirty men at my village. One of them could've easily fallen in love with me and taken me away to a richer district where I would work as a dancer in a local club, only turning out tricks until I got my baby's school tuition secure. Slave traders throw many men on top of a girl, as much as she can handle before she passes out. They don't understand that prostitution is art. Men will pay top dollar to feast their eyes on a perfectly chiseled out breathing sculpture for the night. They'll remember her curves, ivory skin and the taste of her in their mouth. She'll be left in their minds like Monet, vivid, alive, leaping out at them." Her eyes were somewhat proud as she spoke of her old profession. She was not ashamed of it, though hard the core Catholicism she was raised on since age eight strictly condoned sexual favors, it was a way to make good money. She said: "If the slave trade only figured this out they would have no need for forcing girls to work for them."  
  
"If sexual slavery stopped it's force it would just be prostitution, only the pimps would become the mamasans." Ming returned, watching the girl take that in.  
  
The girl stood up from the crate propped up by the door she had sat down at halfway through the conversation. She looked down on Ming for a moment. She said: "I miss my little girl. I'd do ANYTHING they said, even now, if there was just the slightest hint that I could see her again."  
  
= = = =  
  
How the hell we wind up like this?  
  
Why weren't we able, to see the signs that we missed  
  
Try to turn the table  
  
= = = =  
  
To Ming she seemed to be walking in slow motion, ready to lie down on a floor that wasn't even in her country, trying to sleep with the thought of never seeing her daughter again constantly in her mind.  
  
= = = =  
  
I'd wish you unclench your fist  
  
And unpack your suitcase  
  
Lately there's been too much of this  
  
Don't think it's too late  
  
= = = =  
  
*****   
  
= = = =   
  
Nothing's wrong  
  
Just as long as you know that someday I will  
  
Someday somehow, gonna make it alright but not right now  
  
I know you're wondering when..  
  
= = = =  
  
FOGGLE TOWERS  
  
Max stepped into the darkened hallway, searching for the light switch to the living room. She hadn't been sleeping, she never slept but she HAD been interrupted in Logan's bedroom for 'other things'.  
  
"Logan- Open up it's Cree."  
  
Max pulled open the front door at the sound of Cree's voice.   
  
"Are you okay?" Max asked, seeing Cree enter with Ty, dragging in a girl that looked pretty beaten up with bruises around her face and oozing blood from her nose. She also noticed the blood on Cree's body as well.   
  
"I was attacked by some idiot who used her for bait." Cree glanced over at the Hispanic girl who was staring silently into the apartment with round eyes. Cree didn't say anything to the fact that Max was standing there in bare feet with a button up pink shirt that had been hastily refastened. "Ty took the liberty of kicking his ass with me, but he could still come back."  
  
Max put one arm over the Hispanic girls shoulders and led her to the couch. "She needs to get her face looked at." Max observed the discoloration and the disfigurement of the skin near her eye sockets. "She looks like she broke a cheek bone."  
  
"You know that's not gonna fly Max," Cree reminded. "That shit'll be waitin' for us to make a move like that so he can get the drop on her."  
  
"Max-" Logan had emerged from his bedroom in a faded gray Knicks shirt and jeans. He slid his wire-rimmed glasses on his face. "What's going on?" It took his eyes a second to adjust to the artificial light before they eyes widened at the sight of Cree and a woman he had never seen before covered in sweat, grime and bits of blood which stained their clothes and hair.  
  
"I'm not the one you should be askin'." Max informed Logan, nodding over to the people who were now occupying Logan's over stuffed dark blue suede couch. "Someone tried to get the drop on my girl and used some live bait for tryin' to make the transaction."  
  
"Are you guys okay?" Logan looked at Cree in concern, spotting more blood on her hairline then he had originally thought was there.  
  
"If by okay you mean we're bleeding, exhausted, but still kickin' it in the land of the living albeit sore as hell, then yeah we're coo'" Cree spoke up, placing a hand to the tiny laceration in her scalp that had been created the second time she had been thrown against the dumpster. "I never liked dumpsters as a kid, and now I know why. They hurt like a mother."  
  
"You were thrown against one?" Logan asked. He stepped closer to Cree, stopping three inches short of the couch she was sitting at.  
  
"I wasn't dumpster diving Logan," Cree informed, hissing when she pulled her hand back from her forehead. The tips of her fingers were now coated in blood from her cut.  
  
"Did you get a look at his face?" Max asked Cree.  
  
"Plenty of times when he was wailin' on my ass," Cree notified. "He might've been good with his other trade but the boy sucked at physical take down."  
  
"What kind of other trade are we talking about?" Ty joined the conversation. He wasn't naieve, but when it came to true hard-core street life, Cree new painfully more then he did.  
  
Cree stared down at the Hispanic woman who was rocking back and forth on the sofa cushions still staring off blankly into space, transfixed at something in the room that existed only within her eyes. Cree stated: "Exotic imports." Her anger was there, but so was the emotional detachment she had come to rely on over the three years when she had been one of those imports. "Flesh traders never wear disguises unless their dealing with new transporters, and then it's only so they can have control over where the pick up is. If no one knows what they look like their business partners can't double cross them and go to a new guy. But with the girls it's different. They WANT them to see what they look like. 'This is the face that owns you now girl.'" She quoted the exact words of what her first pimp had whispered in her ear after he had pinned her against the wall of his massage parlor. "It's them asserting dominance over 'their girls'." She made invisible quotes in the air with her hands when she said this.  
  
There was a pause that hung in the air after that. The signs that this had been an attempted procurement for the sex trade were all there, but now that it was cemented in fact everyone except Cree and the nameless woman were rendered speechless by the shear impact of what it really meant.  
  
Ty especially was dealing with the complete ramifications of how close his girlfriend almost came to being taken back to a life she had just escaped from. She had told him what it was like, but to see it for real made it much more grotesquely vivid.   
  
It was Max who finally broke the crushing silence, shifting her attention to the young woman who was still lost in her own world. She said: "Obviously she's worth something to this bastard. He'll recon back here to knock her around some more and haul her back."  
  
"If he finds her now he'll kill her." Cree corrected, revealing the knowledge she had picked up on the trade from years as forced active participant. "As sick as it is you hafta understand this industry. Sex slaves are very valuable to their traders. No one is allowed to touch a girl like that guy did tonight, or in any other way that prevents her from turning out. It's all about business to them. No ones' gonna pay full price for damaged goods. If for some reason she can't turn tricks he uses her for 'recruiting' shit like this Sometimes through the course of new procurement she'll get killed or have her pussy damaged and he can't use her anymore. So he's free do to do whatever the hell he wants. Sometimes this happens to a lot of girls at once, and he'll put them up for crap like this until he replaces all the ones he's loosing. Usually most pimps snare up two or three new girls with one old one. He most likely has all the girls he needs. He's just fuckin' greedy, he'll sell the ones he doesn't need to other traders for a jacked up price." Cree hadn't learned all her knowledge from living it, some of it she had heard from other girls in the numerous brothels and massage parlors she had been traded to over the years. One girl from Hong Kong told her that there was a tiny abandoned cabin the mountains where traders would take the girls they couldn't use and abandon them there to either be picked up as country hookers or starve to death.  
  
"So she stays here tonight," Max stated matter of factly. "In the morning we get her across the boarder into Mexico."  
  
"Mexico?" The woman finally spoke up, saying 'Mexico' the way only a Spanish speaking person would be able to. (In Spanish):"It has been so long since I've been there." She then starts to speak in decent English she learned in Catholic school, but still laced with a thick Spanish accent. It used to be my home." Her eyes filled with tears. "Before the 'guerillas' come and shoot down my brothers on the way to San Sophia. They want money, but my brothers they have no money so they take me and my sisters and make us whores instead." She turned her head back up "You don't know what its like there. They dump my brothers on the road to die and haul us away in my father's jeep. I never see them again. I don't want to go back. There's nothing left." She starts to cry again.   
  
= = = =  
  
Sound the bugle now - play it just for me   
  
As the seasons change - remember how I used to be   
  
Now I can't go on - I can't even start   
  
I've got nothing left - just an empty heart  
  
= = = =  
  
BANGKOK, THAILAND  
  
The man holds a heavy black garbage bag over his shoulder, hauling it down to the river. The food stalls that line the gray dirty shore are still open and a man behind a fried rabbit stall calls out: "Hey you can't throw trash here!"  
  
"Fuck off old man!" The man spits back in Thai. He wades knee deep into the water and flips the bag off his shoulder and into the water. The black plastic bobs there in the dark blue water for a few seconds, slowly filling with water.   
  
= = =   
  
I'm a soldier - wounded so I must give up the fight   
  
There's nothing more for me - lead me away...   
  
= = =   
  
The bag slowly begins to sink towards the bottom. A homeless man watches it disappear before swigging from his bottle of homemade rice wine. Soon only a tiny section of plastic is visible from the water's surface. From a tiny slit that hadn't been closed completely a small tuft of black hair and a small amount of flesh from a small hand peeks out.   
  
= = =   
  
Or leave me lying here...  
  
= = =   
  
There will be more of Jondy, Max and Logan in other chapters. I just wanted to remind everyone of the terribly powerful 'other world' that I am writing this story on.  
  
The information about Thailand and its prostitution practices is taken from the fiction novel "Bangkok 8" If any of it is inaccurate; it was not done on purpose.  
  
Songs used are:   
  
Cindy talking to Ty-"Please Forgive Me" (Bryan Adams)  
  
Cree helping the kidnapped girl-"My Immortal" (Evanescence)  
  
Ming talking to girl inside the pastry shop "Someday? Somehow? (I'm guessing here I don't remember the name or the band)  
  
Ending scenes-"Sound the Bugle Now" from "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" soundtrack (Bryan Adams)  
  
Choices is in the works.  
  
R/R on this one please  
  
~mystic 


	13. Seeing Blind

Chapter 13 "Seeing Blind"  
  
SEATTLE  
  
6: 35 AM  
  
THE NEXT MORNING  
  
A black and lime green Yamaha sports bike slowed down at the end of the long line at the sector stop at South Market. The officers stationed at the check point were waving people in as fast as they could, but the line still ran twenty feet down the road, and was filled with the sounds of upset patrons trying to get to their respective places. The sun was just beginning to come up over the condemned buildings of Sector seven; its rays not yet reaching the contemporary glass sky scrapers in Sector Eight, the beginning of the high end district of Seattle.  
  
"Lets keep the line moving," A Sector cop dressed in black riot gear waved the crowd through. On the other side of him his partner was checking the authenticity of sector passes that were being waved in his face, pulling aside those individuals whose passes he found a problem with. Those that didn't make the cut waited in another newly created line to have their possessions searched without the cops giving any regards to whether or not consent was given. Martial Law new no such thing as decent protocol towards its citizens.  
  
"Helmet off buddy," The first sector cop ordered to the rider on the motorcycle. "I need to see your mug."  
  
Two leather-gloved hands moved up to remove the helmet. A second later the rider's blonde hair and brown eyes appeared in front of the cop's line of sight. A few teenage girls who were hanging out ten feet away from the checkpoint roamed their eyes all over the bike rider. They were part of a group of partiers from the previous night who had decided to finally go home at five a.m. and sleep off some of the shit they had gotten into. The looks on the girls faces suggested that they were most likely thinking dirty filthy thoughts that could qualify for triple X porn.   
  
"Is that better GI Joe?" Zack glowered at the man. The face may be GQ in looks, but the tone and attitude was all hard ass X5.  
  
The cop ignored Zack's macho visage, and held out his hand. "Need to see your sector pass."  
  
"'Fraid I don't live here," Zack informed dryly. "So I'm not qualified for a referenced blip on your radar."   
  
"Sir, anyone who doesn't have a sector pass is not allowed access into the city." The cop's tone raised slightly, a warning that he was getting pissed off. "Which begs the question of how the hell you got here in the first place." He now stared Zack up and down like he was street trash. He removed the M16 strapped diagonally in a holder around his chest and back, and aimed it at Zack. "I'm going to have to ask you to step off the bike and come with me."   
  
Zack jumped from his bike, positioning his arms at the edges of the seat to act as leverage for his legs that reversed jack knifed and nailed the cop in the face. The man fell to the ground on his back. His partner removed his weapon. "Hands in the air!"  
  
Zack grabbed his gun from him, unloading the magazine from the bottom, and slammed the body of the automatic rifle across the man's chest, landing him flat on his back.  
  
"Hey!" The first cop scrambled to his feet just as Zack revved up the motorcycle and peeled out of the Sector stop, only a few centimeters away from running over the cop's foot. They watched Zack drove down the road; but they couldn't go after him due to congestion of people around the checkpoint. Some of the people at the Sector stop even went so far as to deliberately box the cops in two a tiny three-foot radius around their sector stop. The Sector Police was a corrupt institution in Seattle, and people did whatever they could if they felt they were harassing someone.  
  
"You go sexy boy!" one of the teenagers, a thin pale white girl with dyed black hair and green eyes shouted at Zack, chanting at him like she was a spectator up in the stands at a high school football game.   
  
Zack slowed the bike down, stopping it right in front of the two girls.  
  
"Hey baby, what can we do for you?" The black haired girl's friend asked in a sultry voice. She was an equally white skinned girl with dyed purple hair among a scattering of black chunked layers and cropped to just under her chin. She was dressed in black cargo pants and army green singlet. Her pink tongue darted out of her mouth to seductively lick the tiny silver ring that had been pierced on the pink flesh of her lip.  
  
= = = =  
  
"Yo only take 'em thugged out  
  
Slightly bugged out, fuck with his tongue out  
  
Know the job ain't getting done, until the body getting drugged out  
  
Hot boy, keep me right  
  
Play your part and I'll keep it tight  
  
Where else you gonna be in the middle of the night  
  
But up in the sheets with me aiight"  
  
= = = =  
  
Zack pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of the inner pocket of his black leather jacket.   
  
"You don't know me." He handed the money to the girl. "You don't know what I look like."  
  
"It's gonna be hard to forget a body like yours." The girl reminded, stuffing the bill into her bra hidden under her shirt. She held out her hand a second later with black nail polish on the fingernails and a crimson red wristband with the words: 'Suck Me' printed in a white jagged script across it's woven surface. "Maybe anotha twenty for my girl will better erase my memory."  
  
Zack didn't question, or say anything to that. He simply pulled out another twenty-dollar bill and handed it off to the other girl.   
  
= = = =  
  
Gangsta, true to your gang, street master  
  
You the one I need when there's beef, street blaster   
  
Ain't afraid to stop a cat, plus pop a cat, huh  
  
Soldier, cash money, rule your world  
  
What's topping that?  
  
= = =   
  
The girl in the cargo pants smiled at his action. "You got a deal baby." She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward, intending to kiss him.  
  
= = = =  
  
Hot boyz  
  
Baby you got what I want  
  
Won't you really come and satisfy me  
  
I be lovin' you like endlessly  
  
= = = =  
  
Zack snatched her wrists from behind his neck and pulled her off of him. "Didn't your mom ever teach you not to kiss strangers little girl?" He shoved her back from his bike and revved up the engine.  
  
The girl held onto one of her wrist; his action had caused it to sting. But what hurt the most was her ego at being called a little girl. She hadn't been aware that it was never Zack's intentions to pick her up.   
  
Zack raised the kickstand, but before he could take off someone shouted at him:  
  
"Yo asshole!" A blurry haze ran into him and knocked him off the bike. "What's the deal with you tailin' me?" Jondy reached out one hand and turned off the engine of the motorcycle and removed the key from the ignition. She pocketed the key inside her dark denim low riders. She felt the stares of the two teenagers on her and she turned to them, saying: "Recess is over girls." Jondy held out her hand in a hitchhikers formation, pointing behind her. "Get lost."  
  
The two girls glared at Jondy. She was only a few years older then them, and they actually considered getting into a cat fight brawl with her, but there was a fierceness in her eyes that told them if they tried anything she'd lay all their shit bare. So they moved on, but not before they whispered the ever-popular vulgar slam of: "bitch" at her before they left.   
  
Zack jumped to his feet and stared Jondy down. "What the hell are you doing?" He wiped grains of sand off of his left cheek with his hand.  
  
"I think the question is what the hell are you doin' followin' me into Seattle Zack?" Jondy spat back, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "The incestial humping action wasn't enough so you had to to tail my ass too?"  
  
"It was better then you trying to make it with some anonymous guy who would sell you out for cash money the second he found out you had more to offer then just your pussy." Zack had made a loop around Jondy and now stood in a position that was in a location exactly ninety degrees away from the location he had been before. Military interrogators made this same move in order to trick their victims minds into believing they were surrounding them on all sides.   
  
"Just what the fuck do you think I was gonna do?" Jondy growled at him. She took three steps closer to him. "Hook up with some sexy stranger and go Praying Mantis on his ass after we hit it? Or did you just think all your sisters are equipped with pussy's that start talking to people about how their momma's are genetically engineered?" She was not right up in his face, as close to him as he was before when he got up on her in San Francisco. "If you ever try to do that shit to me again, the next piece of ass you grab is gonna be your own after I rearrange your balls." She backed away from his personal space and started to walk off.  
  
"I know you came here to find Maxie." Zack said this in a completely casual tone. He had the kind of voice that could command and threaten without the pitch every rising above normal range.   
  
"You're putting yourself in danger by being here."  
  
Jondy whirled back around to face him and said: "She's my sister Zack. I care about her." She was now just one foot shy of the position in front of him that she had just vacated. "I thought you did too."   
  
"She's too reckless for her own good." Zack returned, his eyes taking on a familiar look that always came over them when ever he talked about Max. "Living out here has corrupted her, she could bring us all down."  
  
"After we escaped from Manticore I was under the impression that we'd die for each other if we had too." Jondy hissed at him in a voice that just went one level above 'pissed off'. "It was you who came up with this ideology about keeping away from each other to so we wouldn't breach safety regulations. It's bogus propagandist crap Zack, the same thing they taught us back there. Why'd you run if you're still going to live by their rules?"  
  
"All it takes is the shit hitting the fan just one time Jondy." Zack reminded. His voice was at a dangerously low level. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If Max slips up because of this fuckin' casual lifestyle she leads and gets herself captured, all of us are at risk for exposure."  
  
"Not to mention the fact that Maxie could be killed in the process, or did you just forget to mention that?" Jondy snapped. She could never understand the way Zack was about Max. He cared for all his sisters, but out of the lot of them, he loved Maxie first, then her. "We're all at risk for exposure everyday we walk out on the street. But I'm sure as hell not gonna live like a hermit for the rest of my life just cause some boys in black helicopters have a bug up their ass. And if Manticore's whole plan for haulin' us back there was to exploit the weakest link Zack, they'd a been all over you by now."  
  
"Did you tell Max I was here?" Zack asked, changing the subject because he wasn't about to admit that he had nothing else noteworthy to say on the subject.  
  
"I'm not your errand girl Zack." Jondy spat out a quick return. "You want Max to get the hook up on you bein' in Seattle, you drop the word on her yourself." She headed back over to her own motorcycle, a silver Kawasaki Ninja 350 that was parked by the chain-linked fence beside the sector stop. She had been out cruising and had seen Zack at the sector stop, and it took her all of three seconds to decide to jump him. She pulled out the ignition keys from her pocket. "You seriously need to find a strip club and get some Zack, cause if you try to put the moves on me again I'm gonna beat on your ass." She climbed on her bike and cranked on the engine, revving up the DOHC motor so that is sounded like lion roaring before she pulled away from the fence and took off down the road.  
  
*****   
  
FOGGLE TOWERS  
  
Logan's normally empty living room was now filled with people. The Hispanic woman had fallen asleep in one of his two overstuffed leather chairs, her body curled around a black cotton woven cushion she clutched possessively to her chest.   
  
Cree had been too exhausted to go back to her hotel so Logan offered her his guest room, but Cree declined. The Hispanic girl had made a sort of sanctuary for herself on the couch and Cree decided to stay with her so Cree wouldn't be alone in a strange place. She wound up sacking out on the leather couch, stretched out like a cat on her side. She had pulled her hair back in one long single braid and it rested like a sleeping black garden snake between her tanned shoulders. Her head did not rest on the couch cushions, but rather was pillowed on the blue cotton T-shirt that covered Ty's chest. She had not asked him to stay the night with her. He had simply been there incredibly late - even after Max had decided to turn in for the night - and had wound up falling asleep on the couch. One of Ty's arms was draped across Cree's abdomen, with the hand attached to it resting on her hipbone covered by her jeans.  
  
It was this scene that Max came into when she walked out barefoot from Logan's bedroom. Max normally didn't sleep at all, but had managed to doze off in Logan's bed, mostly because Logan was IN his bed, spooning her to him. But even with that kind of tempting comfort she didn't sleep more then a few hours. She had woken up at six and wanted to get a good ride in on her Ninja before she left for work. Her boots clunked on the hardwood floor to the kitchen where a hot pot of coffee had already been brewed. Logan had become accustom to Max staying over and rising at the crack of dawn so he always programmed his coffee pot for five in the morning.   
  
She poured herself a cup of liquid chivalry, and took a sip from its hearty blackness. A slight rustling noise caught her attention from the living room. She turned around to look at the people occupying the room, but none of them had moved from their positions. She thought at first she was just imagining things, but then reminded herself that that was absurd. She was Manticore, and Manticore soldiers didn't just IMAGINE they heard a noise. She set her coffee cup down and padded stealthy out of the kitchen and into the living room.   
  
She scanned the entire length of the living room, careful not to wake up the group that was crashed there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the windows were still locked, nothing out of place. She heard the noise again, and this time she realized it wasn't coming from the living room, but from the computer room.   
  
She made her way across the floor and into the office-like space. Logan always left his computer system on in case informants tried to send him anything. And that was how she found it when she stepped inside the room to examine it. His marquee screen saver - a quote from Aristotle: 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' - moved across the black background screen on the monitor.   
  
Max stepped inside, carefully avoiding the legs of Logan's computer chair to check the windows that were recessed in the wall beside his Hewlet Packard CPU. She listened for the noise again, but this time there was only silence. As a solider though, she knew that total silence was the worst sound to hear when casing out a location; it didn't mean you're enemy wasn't out there, it meant that they were silently lying in wait. She took another step deeper inside the space, examining the fifty square foot room from all angles.   
  
She felt something come up behind her, and for a moment she suspected it to be Cree, but the hand that covered her mouth and drew her back shot that theory to hell.   
  
She grabbed at the arm and spun the nameless person around so that their back slammed into the wall. She kicked her leg out up high and aimed it at the throat of her attacker. Her face contoured when the features of the man came into view. "Zack?"   
  
Zack stared down at her foot at his throat. "Still wanna do that?" He pushed against her boot with his right hand, causing her to loose her balance and fall back against the computer desk. He stepped over to her. "Impressive form though," he said holding out his right hand for her to take.   
  
Logan appeared seconds later in his office, surprised as hell to see Zack, of all people in his apartment.   
  
"Max," Cree stood beside Logan in the door less entry of the computer room, her switchblade poised for an attack in her right hand. "Are you okay?" Her clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them but her hair was still as smooth as if she had just braided it, a flawless feature of oriental genes.   
  
"Yeah," Max stared up at Zack. "I just felt like going for a ride." She ignored Zack's gesture, shoving past him like he had just put the moves on her for unsolicited sex.  
  
"Looks like that was someone else's game plan too." Cree hissed this under her breath. She glowered at Zack so fiercely that if a glare alone determined someone's ass kicking capabilities - Zack would have been a vivisected sack of guts in front of her. She closed the switchblade in her hand in one hard motion, letting this man know that she had destructive designs on him.   
  
"What do you want?" Max crossed her arms over her chest and faced Zack in a stand-off position. "'Cause I'll find it hard to believe that you just stopped by out of brotherly love."   
  
Cree was a little stunned by Max's remark. "He's your brother?" She found it hard to understand how any family was so comfortable with each other that breaking into apartments to meet up was just an average event.  
  
"He's something." Max stated, turning her eyes back up to Zack. "But we're not gonna get into what my description of 'something' is at the moment."  
  
Ty suddenly appeared in the doorway, slightly out of breath from having made a mad dash to the computer room when he realized that there was one person in there he didn't recognize. "You guys okay?" His hair was pushed to one side from where he slept and his eyes were still heavy from not having adequate time to wake up completely.   
  
"I see you keep a posse now Maxie." Zack said, observing Ty. The other man was a good one-inch shorter then Zack, and Zack used this difference to his advantage. He looked Ty up and down like a Marine drill sergeant would to a recruit who had just gotten off the bus. "Though I'm not impressed with the selection."  
  
"Well we can't all be an arrogant prick like you Zack." Max returned harshly. She loved her brother, but right now Zack was being a shit, and she hated shits. "To add on to which is my previous remark: 'What the hell do you want? And you've only got around three seconds before I stop caring about what the answer is."   
  
"I came here to stop Jondy," Zack snapped at her in a response.  
  
Max screwed her face up at the extreme dramatic statement he had just made. She said: "Stop her from what?"  
  
"From seeing you." Zack cut in immediately after she had gotten through talking, making the two remarks almost sound like they were spoken from the same person who had merely changed the tone in their voice.   
  
Max glared at him for that remark, masking the hurt in her eyes behind the pissed off tone she replied with: "Is that because I wasn't a good docile little follower to her big brother?"  
  
"You're too reckless for your own good Max," Zack came back.   
  
Max cocked her head at him in disbelief. "Am I? Cause I thought us getting out on our own was a step towards actually having a real life. Or was I just not present for that pep talk before you made us split up?"  
  
"I wanted to protect you!" Zack hissed. "If I let you all stay together Lydeck-" Zack halted in his speech, glancing at the two strangers in the room that he did NOT want to be let in on their past. "They would've been able to track you down easily and dragged you back."  
  
"So you just abandoned eleven of your brothers and sisters in some snowy woods to fend for themselves?" Logan asked . In actuality it was more of an enraged demand then a casual question.  
  
"They were soldiers," Zack said, stepping right in front of Logan's face. "Would you rather I hunkered them all down into a single unit so armed snipers could locate them?" Zack was so close that Logan could make out the tiny bits of fuzz on his chin. "Could you live with that choice if I had gone your pussy foot conservative way?" His remark was directed at Logan's relationship with Max.  
  
(In Spanish:)  
  
"It's you!" The Hispanic girl had woken up and was standing a few inches away from Zack, taking in his features as if she had just located a lost soul mate that had gone M.I.A. She closed the gap between her and Zack fairly quickly. "I can't believe it". Her hands reached out to touch the sides of Zack's face, griping his head in them.   
  
Zack was confused about whom she was, actually confused as hell was a more accurate description. But then-like the clarity that came to someone when they had just figured out the answer to a complex mathematical equation-it came to him. "Maria?"  
  
/FLASH: (Mexico City)  
  
Zack stood in front of a fruit stand in an open village square market. He picked up a single brown pear, examining it in his leather-gloved hand.  
  
(In Spanish)  
  
"That's a good one Sir." A portly Hispanic man behind the stand praised Zack's selection. "I can see you are a man of very good taste."  
  
"How much do you want for it?" Zack asked back in Spanish. Manticore trained all of them in knowing the languages of all major countries. It wouldn't do to have technologically advanced killing machines that couldn't find their own way down a street in another country.  
  
The man was impressed at a blonde haired-obviously American boy-that knew how to speak Spanish so flawlessly. (In Spanish): "For you Sir, five pesos." He chuckled from deep in his belly, a noise full of gusto and warmth from a man who would turn no one away that stopped at his house for food. He turned to the wooden lean-to built in the back of the vegetable stand where he and his family lived. "Maria!"  
  
A young twenty-year-old woman with long think black-brown hair emerged from behind a raggedy woven blanket that served as the lean-to's front door. She wore a dark maroon sleeveless sundress scattered with patterns of white Lilies with a deep cut U neckline. A silver cross was suspended from a matching chain around her neck, just an inch the tiny dip in her throat between her aorta and jugular veins.  
  
"My daughter." The shop owner spoke again, introducing the woman to Zack.   
  
The woman turned her attention to Zack.(In Spanish): "Would you like that in a bag Sir?"  
  
"No senorita." (No Miss) "Zack returned polietly, finding his attention constantly wandering back to her deep chocolate brown eyes. He took the pear from her outstretched hands. (In Spanish:) "Inner mystery shouldn't be ruined by bagging a piece of fruit for a stranger." He handed her the coin amount for the price of the pear.  
  
Her eyes blinked up to his, and her hand ever so slightly brushed against his forearm when she went to take the money. "Gracias Senior." (Thank you Sir.")/  
  
= = = =  
  
Maria Maria  
  
She reminds me of a West Side Story  
  
Growing up in Spanish Harlem  
  
She's living the life just like a movie star  
  
= = = =  
  
/FLASH AGAIN: Five days have gone by. Scene cuts to a dingy puke green painted hotel room with a single rusted wrought iron bed with a filthy worn mattress and a crudely put together nightstand where a single candlesticks rests, lighting the tiny room with it's flame. A large colored print of the Lady of Guadeloupe in a gilt frame hangs on the wall above the bed where Zack and Maria are tangled under the dirty sheets, moving in sensual slow, powerful movements./  
  
= = = =  
  
She fell in love in East L.A.   
  
To the sounds of the guitar, yeah, yeah   
  
Played by Carlos Santana  
  
= = = =  
  
/FLASH FORWARD:   
  
Zack mounts his motorcycle that was parked on the dusty deep hued red of the clay road. He raises the silver kickstand as a black jeep goes by. Maria is sitting up front, and her eyes immediately spot him on the road. She orders her brother- who is driving-to slow down and stands up in the jeep intending to wave at him. None of this would have been suspicious to her brothers who didn't know she was involved with Zack. Often time's girls would take favors in catching the eye of American men. It was due in part to a bloated view they had of the 'effects' Western Men carried around in their pockets.  
  
As soon as they slowed down three armed guerrilla soldiers swarmed on the Jeep, shooting off rounds from their AK-47's. Maria's brothers were both hit, and fell back against the windshield, their blood, and the brain matter of one splattering against the glass.   
  
= = = =  
  
Stop the looting, stop the shooting   
  
Pick pocking on the corner   
  
See as the rich is getting richer   
  
The poor is getting poorer  
  
= = = =  
  
Maria and her younger sister screamed as the men forced their way into the Jeep aiming their guns at them, hissing at them in poor grammatical Spanish: "Shut up you bitch!" One of them slammed the butt of his gun across Maria's face. The blow stunned her, but she didn't pass out. Blood trickled down her forehead as she fought her way to one of the Jeep's windows, calling out: "Zack!" /  
  
= = = =   
  
  
  
Se mira Maria on the corner   
  
Thinking of ways to make it better   
  
In my mailbox there's an eviction letter   
  
Somebody just said see you later  
  
= = = =  
  
(In Spanish:)  
  
"Yes! It's Maria". The woman's agreed, putting a hand to chest to identify the name to her body, one that had resembled a young teenager's features the night before. But now a much more different figure emerged, high cheek bones, soft curves, long shapely legs, all the characteristics of a woman in her early twenties. The tight mini dress she had been forced to wear, along with the clown like amounts of make-up made her look much younger, like a thirteen-year-old who had overdone it to impress an older boy. But now, standing in an old gray tank top and track pants - the same ones Max had leant to Cree after she had been attacked at Crash - Maria's full age and maturity began to emerge like the petals of a Chinese Moon Flower in the nighttime air. "I can't believe it's you!" Maria's faced contoured in a mixture of the extreme sadness and relief the spouse of a soldier would use when greeting their loved one back from a war. She started to throw her arms around Zack but he halted her.  
  
Zack once again took in her chocolate brown eyes, remembering the look of pure terror in them at the guerilla soldiers forced their way into the driver's seat and speed down the dusty road with her at gunpoint. She had cried out his name, a summons that he didn't respond too. He wasn't a heroic lover; he was a super soldier who had been taught that all civilian life was expendable to avoid unnecessary exposure.   
  
(In Spanish:)  
  
"What are you doing here?" Zack asked the same question of Maria that Max had just did of him, effectively changing the subject.   
  
Maria glanced behind her at Cree who was standing next to Ty. "I have guardian angel." A grateful smile came across her face to the woman she considered her savior. Her expression changed a second later however when her eyes shifted back over to Zack. "Why didn't you come for me?" In her head she still saw him standing on the road watching the jeep drive away. She was certain that he had loved her, but he had betrayed her. "Why didn't you help me?" She hated him with every fiber of her being, hated him for not rescuing her from those horrible men who sold her off into a foreign country, only being an observer to a horrific scene. But there was always a part deep inside of her that remembered the man who would make love to her for three nights in a row. Who never looked down on her because she was poor and lived in the back of a fruit stand. And that part still craved the feeling she had when she was with him, and that was why his betrayal hurt so bad. "Why didn't you come?" she repeated again, agony in her voice.  
  
Zack didn't respond with words, and instead placed one hand under Maria's chin to raise her head to meet his eyes.  
  
Maria abruptly ended his movements with a hard slap across his face. (In Spanish): "You let them take me away and turn me out like a dog!" she screamed. Her eyes were icy on his and cut through him like a frigid wind. "What kind of man are you?  
  
"What the hell kind of a woman are you if you gave it up to a man you're not even sure of?" Zack growled in return.   
  
Maria slapped him again: "Go to hell Zack!" She was close to spitting in his face. "Go to hell and take your lies with you!"  
  
Zack forcefully yanked her by the arm.  
  
"Let her go!" Cree pulled Zack off of Maria with one movement, but Zack was quick to react to Cree's maneuver and threw her back into the wall. Zack stared her down after she slid to the floor.   
  
Cree picked herself up off the ground slowly, brushing dust off of her body. "Coming from one prick to another I consider that a compliment." She spoke of Zac's move of throwing her against the wall.  
  
Zack glared at her, unimpressed by her burn. "You think you got balls little girl?" His voice had a 'bring it on' quality.   
  
"That's enough!" Max stepped between Cree and her brother, one hand on his chest to keep him   
  
"Get out of my way Maxie." Zack hissed at her.   
  
"Cut the crap Zack." Max's voice was dangerously low.   
  
Zack grabbed her by the arm the same way he had done Maria. "You can't take me on Maxie." He goaded her, locking a hand around her chest. "You'll loose."  
  
"Sit down," Max grabbed a hold of his hand. She flipped over him and wrenched his arm behind his back and threw him into Logan's computer chair. "And shut up." She stepped over to him before he got the chance to move. "Now you're gonna tell me the real story of what the hell your doing here, and if I detect any lyin' you're in a world of hurt cause I'm a lie detector."   
  
Instead of answering her Zack whirled around and smashed a three-inch hole into the wall above Logan's computer. Small bits of jagged concrete fell like sand from the point of impact onto the floor.   
  
"Detect that." Zack growled, ignoring Cree's stunned look on him having just punched through solid concrete. The tiny fragments crunched under his boots as stepped over them, heading out of the room.  
  
Maria's eyes were large at what she had just witnessed, and one hand reached out to grab his arm. "Zack?"  
  
Zack pulled free from her grip. "You figured out what kind of man I am so back the hell off!" he stormed out of the room with Maria watching him the entire time.  
  
*****   
  
SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT  
  
35TH PRECINCT  
  
7: 35 AM  
  
"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me," Captain Rodgers-the head of the thirty-fifth precinct- spoke in a surprised tone as he leaned against the front of his black painted desk amidst the sea of others just like it. He stared at the barrage of women-dressed down to the nines in streetwalker attire- all huddled together in front of his office furniture. Rodgers was a middle aged white man, with an army style crew and a pinched bull dog face that always turned pink when he was mad, which was what it was doing at the moment. He was wearing a white dress shirt with black pinstripes with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, red tie and black suspenders. His issued Sig Sauer handgun rested in a leather holster strapped to the waistline of his black trousers.This wardrobe made him look more like he belonged in the Mafia then on a police force.   
  
"Officer Amston," Ruiz began speaking again to Ming, who was positioned in front of all the girls, like the leader of an all female gang. "The kind of lax protocol you just asked me to engage in might be allowed at the LAPD by it doesn't swing here."  
  
"Since when is offering shelter to a group of battered women considered a form of 'lax protocol' Detective Ruiz?" Ming shot back, glowering at the man, not appreciating his insinuation about what cops in Los Angeles were like. She had roused all of the girls at six that morning, moving them out of the bakery and onto the street, where for a while she didn't know where the hell she would take them. They couldn't be put up in a hotel, and if they stayed on the street any longer people would start looking for them. She finally landed on the steps of the Seattle Police Department, and after flashing her badge and shouting a few choice words at the lowly desk cop who didn't want to let her in, she had gotten inside to see Detective Ruiz.   
  
Ruiz shifted his attention back to the women again. Almost all of them were dressed in micro minis with sky high heals and make up that would put any drag queen to shame. "They don't look battered to me, okay? The girl I busted doing exotic dances at the back room crapes game in Chinatown looks more battered then them." Most of the police in the city kept a code of silence about the illegal sex industry. Many of the sex trade's prime customers were high-ranking military officials, and those in that position of government threatened to shut down the entire police department if any precinct tried to close down the sex rings or revealed anything about their existence.   
  
Ming's eyes became enraged. "What the hell do you want detective? Explicit proof for you to put a orderly little tag on?" She turned her attention over to the woman she had spoken to last night, speaking once again to her in her native Chinese: "The cop; he thinks you're all lying street trash."  
  
The young Chinese woman's expression shifted from being fearful to pissed off. Shooting an icy look at the Detective she stuck one hand down the front of her tube dress - right in the valley created by her breasts - pulling it out a second later, turning her hand to face Ruiz. Her voice was an angry rush of loud Chinese as she showed the man the smudge of fresh blood that was now streaked across her palm.  
  
"She said it's from one of her bosses at a local bar who allowed to be raped by ten men." Ming translated the woman's words to Ruiz. "The rest is a mixture of Taiwanese, which I don't speak very well, but it roughly translates to: 'Fuck you WASP bitch."  
  
Ruiz went silent for a moment, absorbing in the sting of being cursed at in Chinese. Finally - after enough time had elapsed for him to peel his manhood off the wall - he spoke again: "I have procedures I have to follow all right?" His face had turned from pink to a bright red, making him look like a beet with eyes. "I can't just offer official police protection to every bleeding heart case that walks in here."  
  
"So you're just going to throw them out as tagged meat for anyone to hock, or do you prefer a cash money bribe?" Ming snapped back.   
  
"Look," Ruiz said in more of a sigh then a voice. "I don't have the kind of resources or manpower to service a bunch of terrified hookers with round the clock body guards."   
  
"Let's get one thing straight Detective-" Ming cut in. "Hookers are girls who VOLUNTARILY enter their line of work; not get dragged into it by a bunch of pricks who laughed one time to many at that fuckin' Uranus joke and decided to find someone else to go be thugs with."  
  
"So what do you suggest Amston?" Ruiz asked, crossing his arms over his stout chest. "That I lock these girls up in holding cells with a bunch of lowlifes and drug dealers who would fantasize all night about what to do with them?"  
  
"They have no where else to go." Ming returned, looking at all the scared women standing there, trying to mask their emotions by playing with their hair, looking at the floor, closing their eyes. "Someone's probably already advertised a cash reward for them and in the next few days I guarantee you every pimp and bounty hunter in this city will be out en mass on the streets just waiting for the opportunity to get their cut. So I suggest comb every inch of this damn precinct and fine space for my girls detective, 'cause I'm not about to let them become another gang raped statistic."  
  
Ruiz sighed, trying to figure out something else to say, but there was no way he could compete with this woman's hell fire attitude. "I'll get some guys to see if they can find some clear space. I'm not making any promises, but I'll see what I can do."   
  
"No, you'll see what you WILL do Detective." Ming corrected. She checked her wrist watch quickly "I'm gonna grab some coffee and call my husband, and when I get back I sure as hell better see some officers in this place doin' a VERY efficient job at finding some space for these women."   
  
"Break room's down the hall." Detective Ruiz informed her.  
  
"Appreciate it." Ming returned walking towards the wooden door that exited the room she was in. She placed one hand on the brass knob and glanced back over to Ruiz. "Find them someplace to sit." She opened the door and stepped out, letting it slam behind her.   
  
"Damn," Officer Peterson, a six-foot tall African-American male cop remarked as Ming left through the door.  
  
Ruiz turned to Peterson. "Shut up."  
  
*****   
  
BANGKOK, THAILAND   
  
  
  
Mei-Mei walked down the long line of wooden food stalls and children playing with dogs in the muddy road. She was jammed to one side of the street by cars, motorcycle taxis and one lone rice farmer walking alongside his gray mule that was pulling a wooden cart. The Mule grunted hot air in her face as she passed, and her open toed sandal slipped on the turd he just dropped on the ground. She ignored the noxious smell that rose up from it, not even bothering to scrape it off her shoe.   
  
She crossed in front of the farmer a second later, making a diagonal line towards a rotted wooden building, resembling an old barn. The building looked like it has stood there through ancient times. The only proof of its place in the modern world was a suspended neon sign that hung from the side of the building with huge pink Ty characters proclaiming: 'Dance and Sex' A group of teenage boys stood there smoking next to their Honda Motorcycles so interchanged with different parts that many had huge gaps on their engine blocks where the old motors had been taken out and replaced with one with more torque, but not big enough to fill the metal frame. The motors were crudely fused to the body of the bike with a blowtorch, but still there were holes big enough to stick your hand through in all of them.   
  
These boys were rejects from the local gangs. Every summer all of the Thailand street gangs would scout out for new members. Hundreds of skinny, pimply faced teenage wanna be bad asses would line the streets of Bangkok at night to face the initiation tests. Those that made it would be seen screaming down the streets at midnight on their motorcycles, high as a kite on "ya ba" -Thai "mad medicine", what's known as speed in the U.S - cruising along side their gang brothers. The ones that didn't make it spent there days smoking - either ya ba or cigarettes - outside of Go-Go clubs and strip bars, howling at the women as they got off work.   
  
One of these boys - a sixteen year old with dyed red hair, shaved into a crew cut as part of one gang's initiation test - stared at Mei-Mei as she passed by him. (In Thai:) "Hey baby baby, let me have a free night." He undressed her completely with his eyes, and fucked her with his mind. His companions joined in by whistling at her as she passed them.   
  
Mei-Mei ignored them, hoping that they were too stoned to try anything with her. Though they were only teenagers, if they were smoking yaa ba, they could easily take her down because of the rush from the amphetamine. She pushed open the wooden door and entered the wooden building.  
  
No one would have ever guessed it from the outside, but the interior of the dance club was very posh, complete with a long red velvet couch, red velvet carpet, a fountain made out of gray marble and black onyx that squirted water from the mouth of a Buddha. A twenty-inch plasma television hung from black cables off the wall, and was airing a commercial about hair wax removal. A circular reception desk stood in the center of the carpet where an ancient looking woman sat playing dominos and smoking a Virginia Slim cigarette in a long black, lady-like holder.   
  
The woman's head turned up when she heard Mei-Mei approach. She examined Mei-Mei's figure, especially her breast. "You want job you use back door." Her voice was raspy from years of smoking that had also stained her fingertips a sickish yellow hue, which is why she started using the holder. Her long gray hair was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head and she wore a blue silk kimono with the sash tied into a high bow around her sagging breasts. She took a hit from her cigarette, as she examined Mei-Mei's features. "You bring good money here." When she talked, Mei-Mei could see five black holes where rotted teeth had fallen out of her mouth. "Come back tomorrow and I give you job."  
  
A young woman in a yellow plastic tube dress approached the old lady, bowing to her once. "Mamasan, may I leave early tomorrow? American man promises me a date."  
  
The old woman reached around and smacked the girl in the face with a skinny cracked hand. "Farang (slang for 'American') not gonna take you out on a real date stupid girl. He only want you for your pussy." The decrepit old woman turned her attention back to Mei-Mei "Why I decide to hire stupid fifteen year old child to work I never know. You come here, I don't have to take in any more brats." She turned back to the other girl. "Get out of my face little girl, go watch the Plasma."   
  
The girl bowed again hastily and ran off like she had been sent to her room.   
  
"Please-" Mei-Mei began. "I'm looking for my son. One of your girl told me a man might have brought him here."  
  
The old lady took another drag from her cigarette, blowing the smoke across Mei-Mei's face. A waddle of wrinkled flesh that hung from her neck jiggled as she hacked on phlegm that would never come up. She swallowed painfully before speaking: "Some man bring in little boy. He give me twenty yen so I give him room, but I not running a babysitting service." More smoke from her cigarette. "He was a sickly kid, skinny, no meat. Man shoot him." She spit out the truth so fast that Mei-Mei took a second to react. "He better off." More smoke again. "Too puny to be real man."  
  
Mei-Mei slapped the old woman, tears leaking out of her eyes. "You wouldn't know a real man if you saw it old bitch!"  
  
The woman retaliated and slapped her right back across the face. "You watch the way you speak to elders girly." She sat back down in her chair. "Your little brat should've been here in the first place." Her hands picked up her dominos and she started playing again. "Job is still yours. You better to me, girls with kids never as good as others."   
  
= = = =  
  
He was always such a nice boy  
  
The quiet one   
  
With good intentions  
  
He was down for his brother  
  
Respectful to his mother  
  
A good boy  
  
But good don't get attention   
  
= = = =   
  
Mei-Mei's eyes watered, and tears began to leak out of them. She turned and ran out of the massage parlor, by passing the horny boys. She wound up in an alleyway, and squatted down beside old metal trashcans, throwing one out of the way. It crashed into the brick wall of a nearby building, spilling out trash and two rats that had lived inside.   
  
= = = =  
  
Greg was always getting net from 20 feet away (20 feet away)  
  
He had a try out with the Sixers  
  
Couldn't wait for Saturday (Saturday)  
  
Now we're never gonna see him slam  
  
Flying high as Kobe can  
  
His life was stole (Stole)  
  
Oh now we'll never know  
  
= = = =   
  
The thought of Maria and Zack came to me as I remembered that song from Santana, which I used in here. It was so haunting, and that's how Zack is to me. A haunted person who sleeps with girls, cares about them, but can't admit it. I stopped the chapter here because while I have TONS of ideas for the story, I didn't want to cram them all into just one chapter.   
  
Songs used are:  
  
Girls hitting on Zack: "Hot Boyz Remix" (Missy Elliot, featuring Eve, Nas-T, and Q-Tip)  
  
Flashbacks of Zack and Maria: "Maria Maria" (Santana)  
  
Ending scene- "Stole" (Kelly Roland)   
  
R/R please 


	14. Scars

Chapter 14- "Scars"  
  
A/N: This one is for Sammie, who wanted more M/L, which I've been neglecting in trying to focus more on a deeper plot. But now I realize that a good Dark Angel story has a mixture of both. And also for Tab, who never fails to review my work.  
  
FOGGLE TOWERS  
  
"Here." Max held out a set of jeans and red sweater for Maria, who was still wearing pajamas. Cree had gotten a ride with Ty back to her hotel room, or at least that was the story she was telling everyone.  
  
Maria took the clothes hesitantly. "Gracias." She fingered them for a moment, almost as if she was unsure as to what to do with them. Zack had stormed out of the penthouse two hours ago and his absence left an awkward feeling inside of her. Not exactly like she missed him and was ready to forgive his betrayal, but a sense of something unfinished. (In Spanish): "You're his sister?"  
  
"Si." Max answered her in Spanish.  
  
"You don't look anything alike." Maria concluded. Zack was a blonde, well built, but a pale white man and Max was totally the opposite of that with long brown hair and dark skin. Max mentioned nothing of them being adopted siblings, leaving Maria to believe that they were related by blood.   
  
(In Spanish:) "Similarities are sometimes hidden below the surface." Max returned softly.  
  
Logan approached the two women, looking towards Maria, and then - in an action that surprised Max - he spoke in Spanish to Maria: "You can stay here as long as you need too."  
  
Maria's eyes showed gratitude. (In Spanish:) "Thank you Sir, but I can't put you and your wife in danger anymore." Maria had automatically jumped the gun and assumed that Max and Logan were married.  
  
"We want to help you." Logan responded back, not correcting Maria on her mistake about his marital status. "You're not imposing at all."   
  
Maria's eyes betrayed the fact she didn't really believe Logan's statement to be true, but she didn't say anything to that effect. "May I please use your bathroom?"  
  
Logan nodded at her, a gentle expression on his face. "It's down the hall, second door on the left."   
  
"Thank you." Maria said again politely, moving past the two other people and out of the living room.   
  
Max turned to Logan after Maria had left, a surprised expression on her face. "I didn't know you could speak Spanish."  
  
"I didn't know you could either." Logan returned, reminding her that she had been speaking Spanish to Maria all morning.   
  
"It wouldn't be good for an advanced killing machine to stick out in a location by not knowing the local dialect." Max stated the blatant facts of exactly why she knew a vast amount of different languages. "What about you?" Max questioned Logan's reason for knowing Spanish.  
  
"I studied it in college." Logan confessed. "It was an elective."   
  
"I can see how Spanish comes in handy in the covert man-on-a-mission occupation. You might have to negotiate the release of the Ambassador from Spain by local terrorist cells one day, or maybe get an order at a Spanish restaurant."  
  
Logan laughed quietly despite himself. "I could see how it could come in handy for you. I mean the prospects of you being able to talk dirty in another language is something of a turn on." He said all of this with a completely straight face.  
  
Max turned to him with a shocked expression. "Did Logan Cale, defender of truth, justice resurrecting the American way just admit that he enjoys a little verbal scankiness?"   
  
"I don't have an appreciation for it Max, no. But then again you could say 'zygomatic embryos' and I still would find it incredibly sexy. It's not the nine hundred call girl voice I'm attracted to anyway, you just have certain charisma in your voice."  
  
"First of all zygotes aren't embryos," Max corrected him. "Zygotes are the one celled organisms formed immediately after conception. Embryos are formed between three to six weeks after the zygote phase. " She paused for a moment after her biology lesson was finished. "Define what you mean by a 'nine hundred voice.'" She was eyeing him with a look that told him he'd better come up with an answer that didn't involve adult spanking.   
  
"At the risk of a verbal ass kicking I'm going to have to deny that request." Logan answered her in the safest way he knew how, not knowing exactly how they had gotten on their current line of conversation.  
  
"If I'd a found out you were connecting with Silicon Valley there'd be more of physical ass kicking involved."   
  
"Freudian Slip." Logan stated matter-of-factly. "It's what accidents are made of."   
  
"If accidents are accidents why do they feel so contrived?" Max returned. She rested one hand against her hip that was jutting out from her posture, shooting him a raised eyebrow look.  
  
"That's something you'll have to ask those in authority who write the rule books, not us lowly mortals who just read from their pages."  
  
"Zeus and Hera are on a break so I can't," Max stepped closer to him. "And I don't consider you a 'lowly mortal.' More like a member of the nobility who gave up his fortune and ivory tower to join the rest of us out in the real world and better humanity at the same time." She slinked one arm his neck in a slow seduction, then added the other one.  
  
"One minute I'm a groveling peasant and the next minute I'm a born again defender of the stricken and down trodden?" His hands found a place low on her hips, feeling the hard round bone of the clavicle housed beneath a solid wall of flesh. Her skin was warm beneath his fingertips, even through the fabric of her clothes, and he was fighting to restrain himself from letting his hands wander further.   
  
"Let's not go nuts with the 'born again' solo thing." Max informed, her eyes shifting to a darker, more sensual look. "You do have some help in the leg work department."  
  
Logan removed one of his hands from her waist and moved it to caresses a tendril of her hair. He said: "It's not your legs that I'm interested in right now." He pulled forward and kissed her.  
  
The kiss was warm which turned warmer and then turned red hot when Max felt Logan slid his hands all over her back.  
  
It was this scene that Maria came into after she was done in the bathroom. "Ay." She made this sound to indicate her presence in the room.  
  
Logan broke the kiss, looking over to the other woman. (In Spanish:) "Sorry. We didn't see you."  
  
Maria looked at him with a faint hint of amusement on her face. "That's very obvious Sir. Though I understand how love goes." Her tone dropped down to a sad sound at the mention of the word 'love'. She didn't even really believe she knew real love. She thought she knew love with Zack, and it seemed so simple then. She'd meet a man on the street and if there was physical attraction she'd make it with him. Maria knew the power of a pretty face and a well-sculpted body, and if the man liked what was underneath the flesh he'd stay, maybe long enough to profess vows of love. But Zack was far more complicated then she realized. He didn't wait for her on bended knee; he stood in the middle of a pounding rainstorm and waited for her get up the nerve to find him out there. "But maybe I was wrong." Her last remark was so quiet that it was only barely above simply mouthing the words.  
  
"I wouldn't hold yourself to that remark," Max said, moving away from Logan, but just slightly. "Emotions don't come with manuals on correct procedures to follow. They're just what they are."   
  
"You're his sister," Maria said in reply, turning to face Max completely. "Do you think he loves me?"  
  
This was a question that Max couldn't answer right away. She couldn't explain to Maria the deep meaning of the word 'love' to a man like Zack, and Maria obviously didn't know about his past to understand why Max would answer the way she would. So she went for a safer route, one with less questions. "Can't say, I don't know the nature of your relationship."   
  
Maria chewed on this for a moment like a stale piece of rye bread before she spoke again:"I think he wanted to love me, I could see it in his eyes. But there was always something that held him back. He always seemed so - " she bit her bottom lip while she searched for a moment for the right word that would convey her feelings, but not make Zack look bad. "Scarred." Even after she had said the word she still wondered if was an accurate description. "I see soldiers assigned to our village with the same look Zack has, the face of a man who has seen the cold cruelty of death."   
  
"That's something you're no stranger to yourself." Logan reminded Maria. He spoke to her in soft tones so she wouldn't think he was taking a cruel hit on her.   
  
Maria shifted her gaze to him. Her eyes held wisdom far greater then her years, one that was forced upon her from where she had been. "Everything that's happened to me, things I can't even talk about, all that doesn't even equal the pain I see behind his eyes."   
  
The look in Max's eyes changed after Maria said this; it was something she knew painfully too well. But before Max could say anything Maria started speaking again: "Thank you, for all that you've done. You've been very generous but I can't knowingly put either of you in danger anymore. I have to leave."  
  
"Where are you gonna go?" Max cut in. "Those men already have a hit on you. They're not just gonna let it slid that you slipped through their fingers."  
  
"It's my problem okay?" Maria responded. "I don't expect you to get involved."  
  
"You want a relationship with my brother-" Max said, in a quiet reprimanding tone. "So I am involved. Zack may have hurt you in the past, but that kind of screw job is not give and take, he deserves more then that."   
  
"I don't want a relationship with your brother!" Maria spat back so forcefully she had to take a moment to collect herself before speaking. "I don't want to understand the reasoning behind why I stayed with him, not anymore. I slept with him when I was nineteen, I was young and naive, holding out for some damn gallant American to carry me away to a fairytale! But Zack just watched those men drag me off and then I spent the next two and a half years being screwed by every American man who had fifteen pesos and a hard on." She paused for a moment before continuing: "I don't want to love him, but he loves me, I know he does."  
  
"You're a liar." Max hissed defensively, taking a dominating step in front of Maria. "You threw yourself all over Zack the second you caught sight of him with the entire 'lost love' mantra throw in for free, and now you're in denial about whether or not what you had was real?"  
  
"I was surprised." Maria defended, "I didn't know I would ever see him again."  
  
"I'm not a very patient person Maria, so why don't you cut the crap?" Max growled.  
  
"Max-" Logan tried to reach for her arm, but she snapped out of his grip and moved closer to Maria.   
  
"Spending two years of your life being humped everyway but sideways by a bunch of biker club rejects gave you enough time to establish a value system for decent men." Max said. She was now right up in the other woman's face. She went on: "And I hate to break this to you but that whole gallant all American boy ideal is a load of B.S. Zack isn't perfect by a ten mile stone throw but he cared for you, and if you took your head out of your own ass for five seconds you would see that you weren't the only one that was tormented when you were taken by those men."  
  
Maria stared long and hard at Max, taking in the verbal lashing she had just received. "I still can't forgive him for what he did. He left me there to die!"  
  
"Yeah well you don't look dead to me." Max hissed.   
  
"He knowingly put me in danger!" Maria snapped back.  
  
"People knowingly put themselves in danger everyday by taking stupid risks like crossing the street at the wrong moment or staying out too late with a guy at the bar. They had a consciousness decision in their own actions, and most people don't want the man on the street feelin' sorry for them. Now I'm not saying that you had a choice in this but explain to me the perks of takin' pity on your sad violin song of a life?"   
  
"Excuse us for a moment." Logan cut in, urging Max to move out of his living room with his eyes.  
  
Max shot him an angry looked but complied, feeling his hand softly on the small of her back guiding her out.   
  
They walked past the living room and into the hallway where Logan's bedroom sat just beyond a closed dark stain wooden door.   
  
"What are you doing?" He turned to face her once they reached the hallway. "It's been my experience if you're trying to coax an escaped victim of sexual trafficking to seek shelter at your apartment you don't have your girlfriend make verbal assaults on her character."  
  
"I don't care Logan," Max growled in a low voice, her eyes dead on him. "Maria doesn't own the whole damn corner on shitty pasts."  
  
"So you decided an appropriate course of action would be to dress her down about the nature of a relationship you know nothing about?"  
  
"I know my brother," Max returned.   
  
"He watched the men drag her off. Forgive me, but that sounds like something where I would favor Maria as the victim in this, not Zack."  
  
"Back there we were taught to never engage in a situation that would put us at risk for exposure, I'm sure that was running through Zack's mind when he witnessed radical government soldiers take Maria hostage."   
  
"So she had to suffer because Zack's still back Manticore?"  
  
"It's not something you can turn off light a light switch." Max's voice was rising now, and she was right up in his face the same way she had been with Maria. "We're all back at Manticore at some point, in that dark room where nothing makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. You of all people should understand that."  
  
"I'm sorry," Logan said in a higher pitch giving an exaggerated shrug. "But I can't understand a situation that warrants treating a former victim like she's a criminal."  
  
"Then you don't understand me." Max brushed past him and stepped into the living room to grab her jacket.   
  
Logan stepped into the hallway, watching her slip on her leather jacket.   
  
"I gotta go to work." Max snapped.  
  
"Max-" Logan said stepping closer to her, but she ignored him and went to the door.  
  
She opened the door, but stopped before she went out it, saying: "Call me if you come up with anything that'll get her to Mexico." Her eyes shifted over to Maria quickly before the door closed behind her.   
  
= = = =   
  
This is my life  
  
Its not what it was before  
  
All these feelings I've shared  
  
and these are my dreams  
  
That I'd never lived before  
  
Somebody shake me  
  
'Cause I  
  
I must be sleeping  
  
= = = =   
  
Logan watched her, sighing in the back of his throat and lowering his chin to his chest. His eyes turned back to Maria who was watching him.   
  
= = = =  
  
Now that we're here,  
  
It's so far away  
  
All the struggle we thought was in vain  
  
All the mistakes,  
  
One life contained  
  
= = = =  
  
They all finally start to go away  
  
Now that we're here its so far away  
  
And I feel like I can face the day I can forgive  
  
And I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today   
  
= = =   
  
SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT  
  
45TH PRECINCT  
  
"Hey baby," Ming spoke into the black-corded office phone to Jade. She was sitting in one of the mustard green plastic school type chairs in the break room at the police station. Across a long chipped white painted countertop rested an ancient white GE coffee maker. A desk cop had poured a cup of coffee for Ming and it rested beside the appliance - in a green glazed ceramic mug - still untouched beside an opened quart carton of half and half and three blue packets of Equal sugar substitute.  
  
"Mom," Jade's voice was elated. She was sitting on a stool in their living room drinking a soda a working on her Trigonometry homework. "I'm glad you called. I missed you."   
  
"I miss you guys too." Ming admitted. "Is dad around?"  
  
"No dad's at work. Some electrician is coming to wire that wall he's building so he had to get an early start."  
  
"Damn," Ming cursed. "I was hoping to get a chance to talk to him."  
  
"Hey I'm here," Jade reminded.  
  
"I guess you'll have to do."  
  
"Mom." Jade stated in that tone only an exasperated teenager could pull off.  
  
"Kidding baby relax. So-" Ming paused for a moment as she thought about her next remark. "How's school?"  
  
"If you're calling to check up on me you need a better cover then fussing over my grades."  
  
"Humor me okay?"  
  
"School's fine. Mr. Preston gave me a D on one of my Art History tests, but that's only because he didn't have his glasses on when he graded them. I confronted him about it today after class and he said he would re-grade it."  
  
"So what was the final score?"  
  
"B plus. Not perfect, but getting there."  
  
Ming smiled from her end. "I thought Sam Richardson was your art history teacher?"  
  
"She is." Jade answered. "But Ms. Sam had a family emergency so she took off two weeks, and stuck us with Mr. Ulinmyer Preston. The man is sixty-five years old and keeps telling us how he's only substituting to make ends meet, but he really hates every minute of it."  
  
"That's comforting," Ming responded."I hope Sam's family problem isn't serious. I really like her."  
  
"Me too. I don't think it's that big a deal. She told me she has a large family, eleven brothers and sisters, maybe she was just looking for an excuse to go see them."  
  
"Wow," Ming was in awe of the number. "I'll say that's a large family."  
  
"How's Cree?" Jade asked.  
  
"She's doin' good. She misses you and dad."  
  
"I have that effect on everyone."  
  
"Jadayan Sedeyra Amston, don't make me come through this phone and smack the pretty off you." Ming laughed through her words. Jadayan was Jade's full name, but Cree took to calling her Jade for short when Jade was a baby and the name stuck.  
  
"I guess you're the exception to the rule." Jade kidded her mom. "I miss Cree too." She changed the subject. "It seems like she just came back and now she's gone again."  
  
"Sure she'll be glad to know she's appreciated that much. Listen baby I hate to cut this short but I have to talk some sense into the Seattle Police Department."  
  
"No rest for the anti-corruptor lady huh?"  
  
"Where'd you hear that phrase?"  
  
"Dad."  
  
"Tell him I said 'hi' and hit him upside the head for me?"  
  
"Will do."  
  
"Okay baby, I love you."  
  
"I love you too mom, bye."  
  
"Bye." Ming hung up the phone.   
  
"Excuse me Officer Amston?" A young wet behind the ears cop entered the break room standing in the still opened doorway. "Detective Ruiz is asking for you."   
  
Ming stood up from her chair, checking out this man, boy actually. He was not much older then nineteen, with cropped sandy brown hair and a baby face that only now seemed to be thinning out into a manly look. "Does the lackey position come before or after the training?"  
  
"Its kind of there for the entire duration." The young cop - who's gold plated nametag read 'Margolis' - joked around with Ming, even offering her a light smile.   
  
"Must be a Seattle thing." Ming fell into joking with the fellow police officer. She stretched her long arms over her head like a Siamese Cat, turning to face Margolis when she felt the young man's eyes on her in more then just a casual observance. She said: "Did the Detective say what he wanted?"  
  
"No ma'am." Margolis informed, keeping his distance from Ming, but not hiding the look of pleasure in his eyes at her physique inside her clothes. "I was just asked to come get you, I assume he wants to talk shop. Det. Ruiz is very by the book when it comes to police work."  
  
"Then I better not keep him waiting." Ming said. She grabbed her leather jacket from where it was draped over the back of the chair she had been sitting at. She hung it over her left arm and took just one step towards Margolis prior to speaking to him again: "This isn't the Army or a fancy restaurant Officer Margolis. You can drop the 'ma'am' and call me Ming, or Officer Amston if you want. But I'm telling you right now that I'm married so you're also gonna have to drop the 'pick up' voice if we're gonna be working together, understand?"  
  
"Yes ma'am, er-Ming-Amston. Yes Officer Amston, I understand." Margolis responded around his being tongue-tied. He was mentally letting his collar loose so he could breathe easier.   
  
"Good." Ming responded with a slight nod of her head before she left the break room.   
  
Margolis watched her go out, whistling under his breath at the effects her confrontation had on him.   
  
"You wanted to see me Detective Ruiz?" Ming's voice reached Ruiz's ears and he looked up from the file he was examining.   
  
"Yeah." Ruiz responded in an authoritative voice, pointing at an empty cushioned seat in front of his desk with the tip of a pencil. "Take a seat Amston." He closed the manila folder and placed it to the side on top of a stack of blank traffic violation reports. "You want some coffee or something?"  
  
"No I'm good." Ming responded, sliding into the chair with the ease of butter melting in a pan. "I take it you've managed to find someplace in this dank cess pool to put my girls and you're ready to tell me about it?"   
  
Ruiz nodded before he spoke, grimacing internally at Ming calling his precinct a cess pool. "There were a couple of un-used interrogation rooms beside Block D that I set them up in."   
  
"With sufficient luxuries I hope." Ming threw in.   
  
"If by that you mean we gave them showers and a place to piss it's all taken care of."  
  
"So I guess you're work is done now huh?" Ming asked, not meaning it to be a compliment.   
  
"You asked me to find them a place to stay and that's what I did." Ruiz said leaning over his desk before speaking to Ming again: "In case you've forgotten the economy's in a rescission right now so I can't just book them into a suite at the Marriott."   
  
"No it's fine." Ming reassured, dropping her voice down from the 'don't mess with me' cop tone it had been at earlier. "I appreciate everything you've done for us Detective I really do, I just -" She looked down at her hands like a timid little girl telling a police officer where she last saw her puppy. "I don't want these women to fall through the cracks." She finished, looking back up to Ruiz with piercing eyes. "This kind of crime kinda hits home for me."  
  
Ruiz agreed with her silently, giving the moment the quiet reflection it deserved before addressing her again. "Believe me Officer Amston, I understand about having to work on a crime like, there's no black and white way to deal with it, and the fact that you had a daughter in this same situation makes it that much tougher."  
  
Ming snapped her head up when he said this in shock. She silently demanded to know how the hell a Seattle Police Department Detective found out about Cree.  
  
"We were the precinct that busted Jack Warren for forced solicitation." Ruiz gave an explanation to Ming's unspoken question. "Detective Matt Sung and I interrogated him for four hours to get out any names of the girls he sold off. He bragged to no ends about his first score on his girlfriend." Ruiz blinked. "You two have the same last name so it was just a matter of adding two and two. Plus the number of times your daughter came to beat down on Warren's ass outside our holding cell kinda tipped us off."  
  
"Cree doesn't get all the credit for that. I had my part in the ass kicking too." Ming said and leaned back a little in her chair. She picked up a ballpoint pen with a blue lid off of Ruiz desk and twirled it in her fingers. "I want round the clock protection for these girls."  
  
"I can only give you the guys who are on desk work." Ruiz notified "I barely have enough officers to cover the shit that goes on outside as it is without having to keep some off the streets to pull guard duty."  
  
"Just make sure there's someone there at all times." Ming returned, setting the pen back down on the desk. "And see to it that whoever you get for this job understands that these women are not to be treated like street hooker trash." It wasn't a request.   
  
Ruiz was silent for a moment and then stood up from his desk."C'mon." He waited for Ming to do the same. "I show you where they are." He held out his arm and let Ming pass him in an act of politeness towards a woman. "We can hammer out the details on the way."  
  
"Hey, ya know there's a no loiterin' law here." Max had not intended to find Zack. It just sort of happened after she had left Logan's penthouse. She was on her bike, barely pushing it above a cruising speed due to the insurmountable amount of traffic that was clogging up the roads. The sides of the roads were packed with the usual group of stray teenage boys who decided that their home away from was the edge of the pavement so they could gawk at every woman with breasts that walked by.   
  
Max had been looking past these leering teenage boys getting hot in their pants for her when she spotted the lone figure of her brother standing off to the side of a meat packing plant, an obscure figure hidden in the shadows cast from high rise buildings. She hand dismounted the Ninja, ignoring the whistles from every punk within a five-foot radius who thought she wanted to get all in their action, making her way over to Zack, which was where she now stood.   
  
Zack didn't acknowledge her presence, keeping his eyes trained on the hole that rats bore into the wood siding of the adjacent building. His face was expressionless, leaving Max to guess what emotion, if any, he was feeling.   
  
"How come you never told me about Maria?" Max broke the silence, her hair blowing like delicate feathers in the small wind that had just picked up. She didn't expect Zack to answer at all so he surprised her when he spoke:   
  
"I never told anyone about her." He still wasn't looking at her, fixated by something on the wall that was more appealing to look at then Max. His words contained such feeling that if Zack had been an emotional man he would have given a desolate sounding sigh then. But instead he went directly into talking again, not allowing his sudden silence to give away anything. "I bought a piece of fruit from her father's stall in Mexico, and she was there-" A pause. "It was a mistake."  
  
"You honestly believe that?" Max stepped closer to him, leaning the small of her back up against the rotting brick of the factory that had been built thirty years before the Pulse. "Or is that what you hafta tell yourself to keep from remembering that you had finally started to believe in phony sentimentality?" She ended her remark with the words Zack had used on her countless times because she chose to stay in Seattle right under Lydecker's radar for Logan.   
  
"It's not that simple Maxie," Zack turned his head to her like a slow moving wrecking ball. "She was nineteen-"  
  
"You were in love with her."  
  
"She was just a kid-"  
  
"Then how come you didn't let that stop you?" Max snapped quickly.  
  
"Because I let myself be influenced by weakness," Zack answered, finally in the truth. "I let my guard down and allowed myself to be taken over by phony emotions and look where that got me?"  
  
Max knew Zack's take on 'love.' He didn't believe it was real, it was rather something fake that was shoved at and if you accepted into its lie you were weak. It had taken a lot for him to let his guard down and care for Maria. "It got you the same place the rest of us are in Zack, the real world. You can't help who you love. Truth is you're not suppose to."  
  
"I don't love her okay?" Zack spat.  
  
"Then why would you care about what she said?" Max returned. "If you didn't give a damn about any of it you would've just left instead of tryin' to explain the reason things turned out the way they did between you two."   
  
She had trapped Zack with that remark and he knew it. No amount of smart-ass backpedaling would work now. "What's love anyway Maxie?" He wasn't expecting her to answer; he just wanted to ask it because maybe it would start to make sense if it was spoken out loud. "It's nothing but a ploy. If you love someone the opposition can use them against you to get what they want. It's safer without any real ties, no one to loose, no one to cry over."  
  
"It's also lonelier too." Max pointed out. "People weren't meant to be solitary Zack. Otherwise we'd all live on separate countries and be transsexual like earthworms. And after the offspring was born we'd ship them off to find a country of their own to inhabit."  
  
"Hey baby! Show us your ta-tas!" The same group of teenage boys that had 'introduced' themselves to Max previously were now leering at her from their ten-speed bikes.   
  
Zack raised his head then at glowered at the group of gawky horny teenagers. "Why don't you pricks get the hell outta here and go pop your inflatable women?" It was a request.  
  
"Ah hell no bitch." One of the 'burlier' skinny teenagers - a five foot three beanpole with a long black ponytail with black track pants and a gray Bob Marly concert shirt - cursed at Zack for putting him down. "You lookin' to start somethin' toe head?" He had no idea that Zack was a revved up super warrior, but even without that fact Zack still outweighed the kid by at least thirty pounds in muscle. But the kid still thought he could take him. He stepped over to Zack, a pompous fool trying to act bad. "The way I see it, this is a free country." He broke off and examined Max's body with the intensity of a surgeon on his sedated patient. "And if there are certain thing I find pleasing I'm gonna appreciate it as much as I want." He shifted his gaze back up to Zack's face.   
  
Zack would've laughed right in the reject's face, but that's not the way he did things. He kept silent as a deaf-mute and lunged out his arm to grip the neck of the stick figured teenager in front of him.  
  
"What the hell are you doin'?" One of other boys shouted, a pimply-faced friend to the kid Zack was choking the air out of. The boy had lost all facades of his tough macho attitude from earlier and now tried to find a way to get his buddy out of the situation without either of them wetting their pants in the process.   
  
"Appreciating the things I find pleasing." Zack's voice was nothing but a low grunting growl as his 'captive's' eyes began to become glazed over from the lack of air. The boy tried feebly to grab at Zack's hand but he kept coming up short due to the critically lessened amount of oxygen going to his brain. His face turned three shades of white and he would've passed out in Zack's grip right there, but Max yanked her brother off of the choking teenager.  
  
"Let him go!" She finally managed to pull the two apart. Zack was only backed away by Max's maneuver but the kid fell to the crumbled graveled road gasping and grabbing at his neck.   
  
"Wow, you got skills baby." The kids' friend stated impressed at Max's ability to handle a man he couldn't. "That's sexy as all-get-out."   
  
Max seized him by the neck of his white cotton shirt - with the sleeves cut off and fashioned in a way to show off arm muscles he didn't even have. "You're in no position to even think you can still make it with me so I suggest you slink outta here before I grab on somethin' lower your neck." She released his shirt like she was discarding a piece of trash.   
  
The boy took one last looking - disappointing because she wouldn't let him get what he had originally wanted - before blowing off the scene with a smack of his thin mouth. "See you around sometime girl." He walked away with a mile long smirk plastered across his face.   
  
Max turned her attention back to Zack, but then realized that like a magician's trick he had disappeared sometime while she was interrogating the teen. She wasn't too amazed by how fast and undetected he had left because she was capable of such tactics herself. Rather she was entirely focused on one thing - Where the hell is he going?  
  
BANGKOK, THAILAND  
  
Mei-Mei didn't know how long she had been crouched in the alleyway, but by the time her tears had finally ceased she was covered in their dry crust and her back had gone past the point of aching to a dull tingling numbness. This made trying to stand back in an upright position incredibly difficult and incredibly painful. But she was beyond feeling any of it behind the ancient looking trash can. A lone brown rat had stopped to stare at her with it's beady charcoal colored eyes,the first rays of the rising sun shining off it's dark fur.  
  
A garbage man in a ratty coal blue jump suit rattled his hand pulled forklift down the narrow alleyway. He stopped short when he saw the tiny woman wearing nothing but a thin orange tube dress and a man's windbreaker jacket.  
  
(In Thai): "You can't sleep here, I need to get to get to the trash." He pushed his way behind her and yanked the metal can from behind her back so forcefully that the jagged sides of it tore across the windbreaker creating claw sized tears in the fabric. "Damn hookers." The man didn't speak to Mei-Mei directly or even looked her straight in the eye. He had seen her type plenty of times before. Nothing but cheap street trash trying to find someplace free to sleep off their sexed and drugged up bodies for the night.   
  
Mei-Mei's legs protested greatly at her when she finally stood up. She could barely feel anything in her legs to walk away, but she didn't want to stand around this alleyway listening to a poor beggar garbage man call her a cheap floozy and a whore. She used the sides of the trashcan he was hunched over as support to get around him, which made him curse at her again for being in his way. Her actions caused the trashcan to tip on its side and spill out half of its rubbishy contents.  
  
"Damn it woman!" The man cursed at her bending over an ancient creaking back to pick up the mess she had made. He threw back in the can several empty Thai beer bottles, empty cigarette cartons and used condoms shapped like the limp dicks they supported before they were discarded. A flash of red caught the old man's eye and he pulled out a bloodstained "Diesel" zip up hooded jacket. The front of the jacket was splattered in them in gorish surreal art patterns that coated even the steel zipper. The cotton cloth of the jacket was torn in a huge rip across the identifying 'Diesel' mark across the front of the jacket. The old man held the fabric at arms length, rotating it around to examine it, making an unpleasant face at his findings. "Designer knock off. Imitation sales people aren't even being decent with their products anymore. Look at this thin cotton, THIS is suppose to pass for Diesel?"  
  
Mei-Mei snatched the jacket from him, not because she wanted to seize the chance at stealing the knock-off brand name, but because she recognized the clothing. The jacket was made for a child, a young boy. Even through all the tears and blood she recognized the tiny red stitch mark near the sleeve where she had sewn it up after it had snagged on a loose nail in the door frame. "Where did you get this?"   
  
The old man looked at her curiously. "I found the damn thing floating in the water, people throw their junk everywhere. This can was the nearest place to dump it in."  
  
"What water?" Mei-Mei demanded, grabbing the old man's arm. "Show me where!"  
  
"Get off me woman!" The man snatched his arm away from her. He looked at her like she had just escaped from a mental institution. "You're a crazy freak!"  
  
"Tell me where you got this!" Mei-Mei was now screaming at him waving the jacket around like it was something alive and wounded.   
  
"Over there." The man pointed his hand out to the dirty shores where seagulls were starting to gather in uncommon over the sands.   
  
Mei-Mei shoved past the old man and ran barefoot across the shards of broken wine cooler and beer bottles that littered the alleyway. Her entrance on the filthy beach startled the flock of seagulls foraging at something that lay just off the shoreline. They called at her angrily and scattered when she waded into the water to see what it was they were so anxious to pick at.   
  
A large mass bobbed and floated inside the water in the shape of an enormous elongated rock, but it was much too soft to be a rock. Mei-Mei watched it bob in the translucent water for a moment, hoping that by staring at it long enough she would gain a hidden knowledge as to what it was.  
  
The fates of the world must have sensed her thoughts because soon the heavy object rolled over to reveal that it was, in fact most defiantly not a rock.  
  
It took a second for Mei-Mei's brain to register what she was seeing bumping against her feet, and when she finally realized what it was, she screamed.  
  
"No!" She dove half of her body down into the water, pulling desperately on the water soaked body of her son. His body was bloated from being in the water all night and the skin had turned a sickly gray. But his face was still a healthy color, with rosy lips, completely unaffected by death.   
  
= = = =  
  
We all begin with good intent  
  
Love was raw and young  
  
We believed that we could change ourselves  
  
The past could be undone  
  
= = = =  
  
The water soaked in the boy's body made him hard to pull out but Mei-Mei struggled desperately and he finally broke the surface like a rising Humpback Whale. She carried him to the shore, his feet dangling out from one side of her body.   
  
She didn't place him on the beach and instead knelt down with the dead child in her arms, her dead child.   
  
"Oh baby," Mei-Mei said this as a terribly sad sigh. She cradled his form like he was still an infant, holding onto his limp hand and stroking the wet black hair away from his face like she had done some many times before. She kissed his cold forehead, tasting the salt of the water he had been submerged in.  
  
= = = =  
  
But we carry on our backs the burden  
  
Time always reveals  
  
The lonely light of morning  
  
The wound that would not heal  
  
It's the bitter taste of losing everything  
  
That I have held so dear  
  
= = = =  
  
"I love you," her voice was choked around tears as she rocked his still form. "I love you and your brother so much baby." She rested her chin atop his head and stroked his closed eyelids "I'm sorry. I should've never gotten you two involved in this."   
  
People - tourists mostly - stopped to stare at the woman kneeling on the sand crying over the body of a little boy. The tourists with their Cannon instant cameras and bags of cheap black market merchandise backed away from the scene in stunned silence, because it was not the Go-Go bars and ancient history the travel agents promised them they would see when they booked their flights to this country. But a few of the local residents came foward and dropped paper 'bat' currency notes beside her on the sand to help pay for a burial plot, some offering a few words from Budda on the afterlife.   
  
Mei-Mei said nothing to the village people and stall owners who approcahed her. Her eyes never wavered from her son's and she pulled him up higher on her body trying to find a whiff of his scent that the ocean and the decomposition hadn't washed away.  
  
= = = =   
  
Though I've tried, I've fallen...  
  
I have sunk so low  
  
I have messed up  
  
Better I should know  
  
So don't come round here  
  
And tell me I told you so...   
  
= = = =  
  
CRASH  
  
12: 35 AM  
  
Jondy had wandered into the bar again and now sat at the graffito tagged bar sipping on their pathetic excuse for 'light beer'.  
  
"This where the loners hang out?" Max approached the bar with her own beer mug secured in her hand.   
  
"Guess so if you're here." Jondy stated watching Max slid into the stool next to her. "Shouldn't you be hangin' out with your man?"  
  
Max did not appreciate being asked that. "We're allowed to do things on our own. It's called being two separate people."  
  
"So basically you had a spat." Jondy said in her best 'talk show analysis' voice. She shrugged a second later. "Men are scum sometimes." She took a hit from her mug. But then she turned back to face her sister, as if she had changed her mind on her last statement. "Not to downplay Logan, he's a chivalrous charmer." A pause. "Just that most men in general have one thing on their brain, and it ain't about bringin' home the bacon, it's about bringin' home the heat."  
  
"Are you drunk?" Max asked hearing a slight slur in Jondy's voice.  
  
"So what if I am?" Jondy returned, not caring about her status on the breathalyzer scale. "I'm X5, I can handle the hooch better then any of the slackers here. I think that entitles me to a little plaster time." She took another gulping swig off her beer and licked the foam off of her lip. "Don't know about you Maxie but I'm into that fine lookin' specimen that's been eyein' me from across the room." Jondy raised her eyebrows seductively at the six foot tall African-American with a clean-shaven head wearing a camo green tank and black multipocket baggy pants. The man smiled at her again in a way that told her he thought she was hot and he wanted some of it.   
  
Max looked to where Jondy was staring. "He's nice." She agreed on the looks of her admirer. "But you're a drink away from bein' completely faded girl, you sure you wanna initiate a hook up?"  
  
"Defiantly." Jondy notified. "Not gonna let my brother be the only male who got into my pants this week." She took a last drink from her mug and set it down on the bar motioning with one long finger for the guy across the way to come over.   
  
= = = =  
  
He was a 6-foot stallion with the story of a thug  
  
He was the kind that made you wonder how he put down the love  
  
He had a hickey in his pocket wit that rock in his ear  
  
He made my heart stop palpitating every time he came near  
  
He has a spankin new Range for that tight wardrobe  
  
His pants was saggin, he was plaided, and his head was cornrows  
  
He has his wrists bling blinging and his long legs was bow  
  
He tried to push up on me but I knew he had me at go   
  
= = = =  
  
"What's your name?" Jondy said in sultry come on once the man was standing in front of her.   
  
"Trey," The guy responded letting his eyes travel all up Jondy's long legs hidden in washed out hipster low rider jeans, up her stomach showing slightly through her scarlet red tank top abd finally to her full breasts that hung just below the deep 'U' cut of her shirt.  
  
"You like what you see?" Jondy asked of Trey's eye roam.   
  
= = = =  
  
I Do, I wonder if you feel the same way I do  
  
I can see it in your eyes, I entice you  
  
So come on shorty if you think you can roll   
  
Wit an iced out playah ballin out of control  
  
= = = =  
  
"You're tight baby girl." Trey answered, now finding his home gaze on her blue-green eyes.   
  
"Good." Jondy said in an approving commanding tone. She removed her leather jacket to reveal her well-toned, well-tanned arms - an action that Trey appreciated very much. "Let's hit the floor."   
  
Jondy brushed up against Trey when she passed him leaving him hot and grinning like a fool and thinking: 'Dayum' as he followed her out to the dance floor.  
  
= = = =  
  
Watch me drop, drop, shake it for the fellahs who know  
  
Watch me pop, pop my ass as I dip and roll  
  
Watch me stop, stop traffic as I walk through the room  
  
Knowin all the papi's want me but all I want is you   
  
= = = =   
  
Max watched Jondy lead Trey on the floor, knowing full well that her only intentions with the man were for nothing but getting him into hot sex. It was what Original Cindy had told her once before - 'you got an itch, go scratch'. Jondy was no prude. She had no qualms whatsoever about fueling out her rage and anger underneath an anonymous hot man. And with her body and smooth talking attitude the men she picked up were more then happy to indulge her.   
  
"Hey Max," Sketchy came up her, already drunk and holding a fifth beer in his hand. "Can I interest you in some fine imported alcohol?" He waved his almost full beer mug at her.  
  
"No thanks Sketch." Max returned, brushing off the beer with one hand. "Think I'm just gonna go home." She paid for her beer, leaving unfinished on the counter.  
  
"Well I'll be here all night if you change your mind." Sketchy announced in a drunk tone, holding himself at a slightly askewed angle as he watched her ascend the stairs out to her motorcycle.  
  
FOGGLE TOWERS  
  
Logan lay on his side on his bed, about to drift off when he heard his bedroom door being opened. He flipped on the ornate lacquer beside table lamp and reached inside his drawer for his gun that he kept in there at night.   
  
"It's me." Max raised her hand in the air seeing the weapon hidden in his drawer halfway pulled out.   
  
"Max." Logan squinted momentarily in the light. He released the gun handle and closed the drawer. "What time is it?" He sat up completely.  
  
"Almost one." She answered shedding her leather jacket and throwing it in against an antique looking cherry wood high backed hair. "All the lights were off so I figured you were in here asleep, or possibly working on some covert Eyes Only project that couldn't wait until morning." While she talked she had removed her shoes and her royal blue sweater and was not down to a white cotton singlet and army green twill low riders.  
  
"You placed a lot of trust on the belief that I wouldn't think you were a burglar and let you in here." Logan stated, watching her set her shed clothing next to her jacket on the chair.   
  
"Logan I am a burglar remember?" Max reminded. "And you wouldn't have to let me in. I can pick the lock myself should the need arise for me to come in when you're not available." She walked around to the vacant spot next to the bed and pulled back the navy blue comforter and slid in beside him.   
  
"I feel so much better now." Logan said, feeling Max back up into his body underneath the blanket. He indulged her more and pulled her to him and draped an arm across her stomach. He had no idea what had made her decide to had come here tonight, but he knew that in her own way she was trying to make amends for the fight they had that morning. She wouldn't never openly admit it, that's not the woman she was, and it wasn't all her fault to apologize for. He had had his part in it as well.  
  
"Jondy was puttin' the moves on an unnamed playa tonight at Crash and I wasn't in the mood to stick around for the ensuing sex so I decided to bounce." Max didn't look up from the pillow she was laying on when she said this.  
  
"Well I'm glad you decided to bounce here." Logan spoke above her, watching her turn to him at his choice of words. "Because I want you to always take the phrase: 'my door is always open for you Max' as completely literal."   
  
Max felt a smile creep up on her face at this. "Can't get any more 'literal' then spoonin' up in your bed." She propped her head up on her elbow, waiting a long silenced moment for what she was about to say next. "Zack loved Maria." She still had no idea where he had gone, but she could recall every second of their conversation that afternoon. "In his own way he was tryin' to protect her. If Manticore got wind of their relationship they would use Maria to get to him. Lydecker never cared about who he had to maime and murder in order to reach us."  
  
"He still owes her an explanation." Logan insisted, rubbing her stomach underneath her tank, not to seduce her, but because he liked to be close to he body. "She deserves to know the truth about that day."  
  
"People make up the truth as they go along," Max informed. "Whatever they have the strongest conviction in is the center of it. And if their ideals change so does their 'truth'."  
  
"Are you saying that Maria should just keep believing that Zack betrayed her because of an idiotic fear of panic that gripped him at seeing the guerilla soldiers kidnapped her?"  
  
"I'm saying not everyone can handle the ultimate reality of a situation." Max returned. Their banter hadn't changed even while they were sharing the same bed in what was suppose to be an intimate moment. "You think if Maria knew that a death squad could be launched on her at any time in order to get to Zack she would have even been with him?" She paused to look up at him, answering his next question before he could ask it. "It was different with you. You're a rich liberal intellectual white guy in what's left of upper class America, you figured out the threats I posed to you all by yourself. Maria was a poor girl from Mexico. To her Zack was a handsome American she thought would take her out of her slum and into a better life. She had no way of knowing that he led this entire secret life with black helicopters and military convoy's on his tail, and if she did she would never understand it."   
  
Logan took in this statement, watching Max breath, knowing that she had been right the entire time and he was just too proud to admit it. She and Zack came from the same horrendous past and even though it was over ten years behind him there were certain scars that ran too deep to try and ignore. Zack shouldn't have lied to Maria, but that was just the man he was. He wasn't about to change a lifetime of ideals for a girl he had only known for five days. Logan leaned over and kissed Max silently, long and sensual, but not seductive because he was offering her his form off apology.  
  
= = = =  
  
Oh, Oh I've  
  
Never felt this way   
  
How do you give me so much pleasure  
  
And cause me so much pain   
  
Just when I think  
  
I've takin' more than would a fool  
  
I start falling   
  
back in love with you   
  
= = = =  
  
Logan cupped her face with one hand when he pulled apart. "I understand you." He pulled a strand of hair away from her mouth leaning down to capture her mouth again, this time feeling her remove her head from her arm and maneuver her way underneath his body, responding passionatly to his kiss.   
  
= = = =  
  
I keep on fallin'   
  
In and out  
  
Of love-with you   
  
= = = =   
  
Zack sat staring out at the broken city on top of the Space Needle. He had found Max's old haunt easily, remembering her fascination with high places. He had climbed up the rickety wrought iron ladder to the graffiti covered surface of what use to be one of Seattle's most prominent marks of tourism.   
  
He had one hand out in front of him, examining what lay laced in-between his fingers - a tiny gold crucifix on a thin gold rope chain. Maria had left on the crap of a night stand the last night they had been together in Mexico because the clasp had broke. He had intended to give it back to her before the next morning, but then the guerilla soldiers came and he was left holding it watching Maria as they drove her away.  
  
= = = =  
  
I never   
  
Loved someone  
  
The Way that I-love you...  
  
= = = =  
  
(FADE OUT)  
  
No Cree in this one, sorry. I had to address a lot of other issues, but she'll appear first in the next chaper. I realize the story centeres around her, but the story isn' over yet.   
  
Songs used are:   
  
Opening Scene: "So Far Away" (Staind)  
  
Mei-Mei discovering the body of her son:"Fallen" (Sarah McLaughlin)  
  
Jondy flirting at Crash: "I Do" (Toya)  
  
Ending scene: "Fallin'" (Alicia Keys)  
  
R/R please. 


	15. Glass Emotions

Chapter 15-"Glass Emotions"  
  
A/N: This chapter starts immediately after Cree and Ty left Logan's house, telling their part of the story after they left. Confusing huh?  
  
= = = =   
  
The elevator ride down from Logan's penthouse might have well been a visit to a strict Catholic Mass because neither Ty nor Cree said anything to each other the entire time. Periodically they would shoot glances at one another but then just as quickly would turn away to stare at the wooden walls.   
  
This made then quite a special for the other occupant of the elevator car - a teenage boy, about one year younger then Cree who had just delivered a prescription package to Mrs. Moreno's apartment.   
  
About halfway to the ground floor the messenger boy leaned over Cree's shoulder, inhaling something he seemed to find very alluring. "Nice." The word rolled off his tongue in an act of complete seduction. His eyes roamed up the side of Cree's face, taking in her dark brown eyes and tanned skin. "Hey baby if you're not with him I could get in with some somethin' somethin'"   
  
"Yeah well she _is_ with me prick." Ty growled, not liking the kid's gaze all over Cree's body one bit. "But I got your somethin' somethin' right here." He held up both of his fists when he said this, threatening to knock the guy senseless.   
  
"Chill man, " The kid held up his hand in compliance. "I'm down with that, no need to break out the artillery." The elevator dinged on the ground floor a second later, but he didn't go through right away, still ogling Cree. "Call me if you ever dump Boy Captain America baby."  
  
"Take to steppin' jack-off." Ty cut in.   
  
The kid looked at him for a moment like he wanted to start something but then he changed his mind and walked out into the posh lobby of Fogle Towers.   
  
"My hero," Cree stated sarcastically not at all appreciative of Ty being territorial over her.   
  
"Oh I'm sorry I should just let every wandering dick hook up with my woman." Ty said as he stepped off the elevator with her and walked over the mosaic tile floor to the set of glass doors that led out onto the street.   
  
"First off I'm not _your_ woman Ty." Cree corrected once they had melded themselves into the crowd of pedestrians out on the sidewalk. "And second I'm perfectly capable of tellin' a guy to piss off." A group of three bikers zipped past them, one of them looking over his shoulder to check Cree out.  
  
"See that? He defiled 'your woman'," Cree said sardonically. " You'd better chop off his balls or somethin' to defend my honor."   
  
"Cree would you cut out the bull shit?" Ty spat.  
  
"Would _you_?" Cree snapped back. She crossed her arms over her chest not only to express how pissed off she was about Ty's attitude, but also to obstruct any attempts at him wandering to her cleavage to come up with any poetic verses on how beautiful she was so she would forget what they were fighting about. "I'm eighteen Ty. A very old eighteen, I think I can handle myself without my boyfriend tryin' to hold my damn hand." Her eyes were on fire. Male dominance was something she didn't stand for.   
  
"I wasn't trying to defend your honor. I was _trying _to help." Ty defended. "That idiot was salivating all over you and you know it."  
  
"Then you shoulda let _me_ deal with it!" Cree hissed. "Believe me I've seen enough sleazy men in my life to know how to handle one kid with a pubescent hard on. "Stick to what you're good at Ty - like fighting fires and leave the cock cutting to a professional."  
  
"You know that statement just said a lot about you." Ty returned.   
  
His words were so emotionless that it left Cree to read into what exactly he meant by that. And all she could hear was that she had seen her fair share of cock. She was so mad then she drew back her arm - not to slap him but to slam him in the eye with a right hook.  
  
Ty caught her movements though and halted her advancing fist before she made contact with him.   
  
"Damn girl, calm down that's not what I meant." He dropped her arm back to her sides and felt her yank herself free from his grip a second later.  
  
"Oh then by all means enlighten me on what exactly you did mean," Cree retorted with more venom then a king Cobra.   
  
"What I was _trying _to say was that you have more attitude then I've ever seen in a woman."  
  
"What about Max?" Cree asked. Ty wasn't the only one who could dance around in circles with his conversation.   
  
"Cree c'mon I'm about to wax poetically here."   
  
Cree cocked her eyebrow at this, but didn't interrupt him.   
  
"Like I was sayin' " Ty went on after he saw that Cree wasn't going to say anything to that. "You have this hard ass side that I find intimidating as hell -"  
  
"There better be a 'but' comin' up in here real soon," She warned.   
  
"There is," Ty agreed before going on. "_But_ it's also one of the things that I admire most about you."  
  
Her eyebrow rose again, for an entirely different reason. "You admire me?"   
  
"Hell yeah," Ty stated, taking a step closer to her. "I've dated plenty of girls in my time and most of them kept playin' up the whole docile and innocent thing, but you - you're a tornado that blew my whole world upside down." He reached out to touch her face then. "And I've never appreciated tornados before now."  
  
All of her pissed off thoughts towards Ty became muted after that contact. She remembered why she had fallen so hard for him in the first place. "I'm not gonna let you get some just cause you dropped me a pleasin' line." She informed seriously. She didn't know if she could handle sex just yet.  
  
"Cree -" Ty rolled her name off of his tongue in drawn out sensuality. "I thought you knew me better then that." He tilted her head up with his finger under her chin and ever so gently brushed his lips against hers. "I'd never do anything you're not ready for."   
  
Cree heaved a longing sigh after that, feeling warmth spread across her thighs. _God, he CAN'T want this as bad as I do._ Her eyes had become darker and she hesitated only slightly before pulling closer to kiss him, slowly snaking both arm behind his neck.  
  
Ty tasted her before he felt her. She was warm and wet and tasted of dark chocolate and mint. He slid one hand into her silky ebony hair, stopping it low on her back, feeling her satin bra strap underneath her shirt. _I should've gone for placing my hands behind her neck. I can't do this with her - she deserves to have a say in what happens.   
_  
"Ty?" Cree had pulled apart from him, still panting from the kiss.  
  
"Yeah baby?" Ty had never called her 'baby' before but he couldn't help it, she was so gorgeous and sensual that just saying her name wasn't enough.   
  
Her eyes were now almost black from dilation. "I'm ready."  
  
He gaped at her, not because he didn't understand what she meant -every part of him understood what she meant - but because it was for this reason last time that she had taken off. "You sure?"  
  
"No." She answered honestly. "But I've never been sure about anything in a long time." She traced his lip with one elegantly long finger. "I want you though Ty."  
  
He felt himself harden at her electric touch. "My apartment is just three blocks away-"   
  
Her finger stilled his words. "It's too early. Tonight."  
  
"Why tonight?" Ty asked. _Shit I sound fuckin' twelve-years-old_.   
  
Cree's answer to this was to give him a full-lipped Cheshire smile and say in a low voice: "There's just something about the dark."  
  
= = = =   
  
12: 35 AM  
TY ARIS' APARTMENT   
  
Ty looked across his double bed at Cree who had become shy after he had led her to his bedroom. His roommate had been up watching an infomercial and had seen him enter with a girl and had given him a thumbs up, to which Ty responded by trying to suffocate him with a couch cushion.   
  
_Shit. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe she was just acting on pure emotions before._ Ty watched Cree take an obsessive fascination with his plain maroon comforter, rubbing its surface with one hand. "Cree -"   
  
There was something in the way he said her name that made her tilt her head up to face him. He was so close to her, but still gave her distance in case she wanted an out because it was too much.   
  
Part of her wanted to run like before, run from all the memories of sex she had experienced in the past by the hands of men with dirty fingernails and who reeked of sweat. But she couldn't tear her gaze away from his dark eyes. _If I run now, there's no goin' back_. She found the hem of her shirt and pulled it off revealing to him her lacy red satin bra supporting her two sculpture perfect breasts.   
  
Ty just gazed at her, taking in all her beautiful curves and lines. He scooted closer to her and instigated the first kiss, placing his hands low on her back like before to undo the hooks in the back of her bra. He pulled it away from her slowly and pulled back to see her body unconcealed.   
  
"My god baby -" His words were slightly shocked as he took in the over ten long curvy scars on the skin of her breasts that had been inflicted on her with a broken bottle on her first failed attempt to escape. One of the scars completely circled around her nipple in a jagged pattern around her areola.  
  
Cree shied away from his gaze, too humiliated to have him look at her anymore. "I tried to run one day." She knew he had built up this perfect image of her in his mind and her scarred body was far from his fantasies. No one had ever touched her since she escaped and she never wanted anyone too because she never wanted them to see her horrible marrings.  
  
Ty tipped her head up to meet his eyes like he had done that morning, seeing the moisture pooling behind their gaze. "You're beautiful."  
  
She looked at him in sad disbelief. "How can you love a broken thing?"  
  
"I don't love a broken thing." He informed stroking her cheek like he had done it a thousand times before. "I love you."   
  
Her lip started to tremble and a tear was on the verge of escaping her eye, but she held it back and answered softly "I love you too."  
  
The word 'love' broke the tension for both of them. Ty removed his own shirt and pulled her slowly to him by her shoulders and then kissed her, turning off the bedside lamp to bathe the room in blackness.  
  
= = = =   
  
_Oh my love-My darling  
I've hungered for your touch   
A long lonely time_  
  
= = = =   
  
The kissed turned hot and Cree pressed herself against him and felt him lower her onto his bed, moving more on top of her. She immediately began to tense up, remembering all the other times she had been under a man.   
  
Ty felt her about to bolt, and before it could happen he pinned her shoulders down gently with his arms. "Please stay." He felt her start to tremble at his touch. _Damn, she's shaking._ He caressed her bare shoulder in long sensual strokes. "I'll never hurt you Cree, I promise." She looked like a wounded child then, her eyes clouded over lost in her own pain. "I'll go slow okay?"   
  
She gave a barely there nod at his suggestion and a tear slid out of the corner of each of her eyes, tracing a watery path down her skin.  
  
Ty wiped them away with his thumb, not saying anything because he knew no words would just erase what had happened. _Bastards. Fucking bastards. I'll kill them for what they did to her._ "I won't rush you Cree, but I won't deny you anything either-" his voice was low and gentle, but sex filled as he started planting warm, slow moving kisses over the tops of her breasts.   
  
= = = =  
  
_Lonely rivers flow to the sea,   
To the sea  
To the open arms of the sea   
Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me wait for me  
I'll be comin' home, wait for me_  
  
= = = =  
  
Cree melted into his touch then, feeling comforting, seductive warmth spread over her naked body. _God I never knew sex could feel like this._ She slowly moved a hand behind his neck and he halted in his kisses on her body at the movement.  
  
"Cree-" Her finger on his lips stilled his words.  
  
"Don't talk." The face of the wounded girl from her past was gone and replaced by the dark eyes of the woman who knew what she wanted. Her past would still be after this was all over, but she wanted to just live in this moment with Ty, male and female, expressing one of the deepest forms of physical connection.  
  
Ty understood what she meant. He removed her hand from his mouth and kissed her fingers before ushering her legs apart with one hand.   
  
Cree kept her eyes locked on his the entire time, even when the climax was about to take her. She had closed her eyes every other time a man had been on top of her, never wanting to see their faces when they came into her, spilling their vile fluids into her crotch. She would never orgasm -trained herself not to - because doing so would be admitting to some form of pleasure in being fucked by a stranger. But now this wasn't a ten-dollar screw, this was her visit to China, and she wanted her eyes wide open to see it.   
  
= = = =

_And time goes by so slowly   
And time can do so much  
Are you still mine?_  
  
= = = =   
  
When the moment finally did come Cree didn't hold back the shudders and spasms that coursed through her body, her eyes dead on Ty's soft brown ones, crying out in sweet release when he finally emptied into her body.   
  
= = = =  
  
_I - NEED your live  
I need your love_  
  
= = = =  
  
He finally collapsed on top of her, but rolled over so he wouldn't crush her, pulling her in his arms a second later. He was breathless as he found some unused energy to run his fingers through her sweat soaked hair.   
  
Cree spooned up next to him too exhausted to say anything, but it was a good exhaustion. She never felt so satisfied in her entire life.  
  
= = = =  
  
_God speed your love to me..._  
  
= = = =   
  
XXXXXXXXXXX   
  
10: 45 AM  
THE NEXT MORNING  
JAM PONY  
  
"Bip Bip Bip!" Normal tapped on his watch with the tip of his pencil in the face of Original Cindy who had stopped her bike by his desk in order to retrieve a stick of spearmint gum from the inner pocket of her jacket.   
  
Normal watched her chew it with a displeased scowl on his face. "I hate to interrupt you from what is obviously an important matter, but where the hell is Max?"  
  
"She'll be here." Cindy replied simply around chewing on her gum.   
  
"That didn't answer my question." Normal said annoyed.   
  
"Max had a medical emergency." Sketchy informed, walking his bike over to Cindy. "She called me from her doctors office, they just have to finish setting the breaks in her hand."  
  
"If Max broke her hand I'm the Emperor of Prussia." Normal informed perturbed. "Now I want an honest answer on your coworkers whereabouts, or she won't _be_ you coworker anymore, understand?"  
  
"Give her ten minutes." Jondy announced, stepping into Jam Pony. She had actually come into Jam Pony to have a package delivered, but then overheard the conversation about Max.   
  
Normal looked Jondy up and down like a six-year-old had just promised him she would go to bed in five more minutes. "And who the fire trucks do you think you are girly?"  
  
"No of your damn businesses that's who." Jondy spat back approaching Normal, with a package tucked under her arm. "And the last guy who called me girly fit in something this small after I got through with him." She slammed the manila envelope on Normal's desk.  
  
But Normal just rolled his eyes at Jondy's threat. "Great. Another smart mouthed kid, as if I didn't have enough to deal already in this place."  
  
"You can be appreciative of me later boy but I need my package delivered _today_." Jondy flipped it over so that the address was showing.  
  
Normal picked it up in his hand. "Understand that I don't ship drug paraphernalia or any propagandist slander on government officials."  
  
"Yeah and underneath this banging curvaceous figure I'm really a _guy_." Jondy retorted. She knew what kind of stuff people sent through messenger services like this and the top dollar sellers were ones that requested transport for their illegal goods. She slapped a ten on Normal's desk. "That should be more then enough, buy yourself somethin' pretty with what's left."   
  
"Everything is just a game to you isn't it?" Normal returned, watching Jondy leave.  
  
"That was incredibly awesome," Sketchy complimented when Jondy strolled past him.   
  
"No that was awesome 'cause _I _am incredible." Jondy corrected stopping beside him.  
  
Sketchy's smile about split his face open. "Would you mind giving me your phone number and ring size?"   
  
"Boy back off," Cindy cut in. "The girl's not even been in here for five minutes and already you're scopin' out her ass."  
  
"I like to get ahead." Sketchy notified, still staring dreamy eyed at Jondy, because - like Max - all Manticore females were designed to be extremely beautiful. While the U.S. army used mechanical weaponry as a diversion tactic Manticore took advantage of creating their diversions in the 5'9" female variety, because they knew soldiers would turn the second they saw such a pretty thing come barreling through the woods at them before an ambush was dropped on their ass.   
  
Cindy just rolled her eyes, but only slightly because Sketchy was her boy, hormonal male or not.   
She fixed her attention on Jondy and said: "If you don't mind me askin' girl what was that package you just dropped on Normal's ass?"   
  
"Guy I was knockin' around last night left his shirt at the hotel we crashed at. And it ain't my size, so I decided to be a good citizen and send it back, in case he's got sensitive nipples or somethin'" Jondy said this with minimal emotions except for the pleasing smile that covered her face at the end. Trey was everything she'd expect in a well-muscled man, and he was just what she needed to obliterate the feelings of Zack trying to get into her pants.   
  
Cindy raised a pleasing eyebrow at this because Jondy was an incredibly fine woman in her books that she herself would't have minded getting cozy with last night. "COD I presume?"  
  
"Hell yeah." Jondy agreed. "Not gonna chisel out cash money for a one night stand that's probably just sticking another gold star on his chart of the woman he slammed."   
  
"If this guy was so repulsive then why did you sleep with him?" Sketchy asked confused.   
  
"Cause he's sexy as hell and I did appreciate some of the things he got into. Plus I paid him twenty dollars to keep his fool mouth shut."   
  
"You paid him off?" Sketchy couldn't understand this logic at all.  
  
"Why should I hafta deal with a set of skills he's not even good at?" Jondy answered seeing Sketchy's eyes reach their maximum over load size.  
  
"Don't pay him no attention boo." Cindy told Jondy. "Brotha man's just in shock at a sistah who's treating sex like the average male and doin' it better then the average male too."   
  
"But you've gotta be in the minority right?" Sketchy was starting to sound desperate. "I mean they're aren't whole hordes of women out there who just bribe a guy just to get want they want out of him and then toss him aside like a juiced orange are there?"   
  
Before Cindy or Jondy could answer that Max's bike rolled down the ramp entrance at Jam Pony, stopping right in front of them.   
  
"Hey Maxie you made it." Jondy said. "I was about to send a search team."  
  
Max didn't add on to that. "What's up?"  
  
"Max." Sketchy said her name like his personal savior. "Would you ever pay off a guy to shut up during sex?"   
  
"Sugah you don't even hafta answer that." Cindy told her.  
  
Max didn't say anything for a second, but then answered Sketchy's question: "I wouldn't drop no more then a ten spot on it, plus the guy'd hafta be a real obnoxious loud mouth."   
  
Sketchy dropped his head in one hand. "I don't believe this, it's a world gone mad."  
  
"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence." Normal announced approaching her like a reprimanding principal to a student who cut class.  
  
"Speaking of real obnoxious loud mouths." Cindy commented in a low voice to Max.   
  
"Before you further insult my intelligence I'll let you know that you're really idiotic coworkers have already tried to palm off your tardiness with the excuse that you've broken you're hand. However I haven't known a doctor yet who would let fractures set without cast or braces so I suggest you start coming up with the real reason you are late girly or you won't have anything to be late too."   
  
Max held up her left hand wrapped in a beige sports bandage with two metal splints secured around her ring and pinky finger. "Made a drop to a guy yesterday that didn't pay attention when he closes elevator doors."  
  
"Oh for the love of Mike." Normal sighed, staring at the bandages. "You better not expect any workers compensation on that missy; It was done out of your own negligence."  
  
"Chill Normal, it's not like you've _got_ any money in this dump to shell out to me anyway." Max said lowering her bandaged hand.   
  
"Use your other still functioning hand when you make runs today. I don't want people to think this is some poor sweat shop work place." Normal headed back to his desk then, mumbling things about reprobates and poor workers under his breath.   
  
"Damn girl." Cindy eyed Max's hand. "Are you aiight?"  
  
"I'm fine." Max removed the braces from her fingers and unwrapped the bandage from her hand. "Last night I got a splinter cut but I thought the ace bandage and hardware would be more dramatic then just this little puny thing-" She held up her palm so they could see the tiny set of butterfly bandages adhered to her hand.  
  
"How'd you get a splinter wound in the urban landscape of Seattle?" Cindy asked.   
  
"It was some strong shit too." Jondy added. "I mean if you had to butterfly the wound closed it had to have been some kind of hard wood shard that got into it." She stopped to think for a moment. "Isn't Logan's headboard made out of mahogany?"   
  
"I gotta make a run." Max cut in, ignoring Jondy's huge grin and got back on her bike and slowly pumped it up the exit ramp.   
  
Cindy was grinning too. "Glad to know that at least some of us are doin' fine without the money bribes of a prostitute."  
  
"Yeah but it kinda makes you jealous too." Sktechy added. "Why should a man like Logan get all the luck with women?"  
  
"Because he has a key element called 'charm'" Cindy notified.   
  
"The fact that he's rolling in it probably adds on to his appeal as well." Sketchy added.  
  
"Real love can't be bought with money Sketch. Now scank love is a whole other issue."  
  
"Why do you think I'm jealous in the first place?" Sketchy asked upsettingly. "I'll take the voluptuous love of a scank over nothing any day."  
  
"Sorry I even said anything." Cindy came back.   
  
= = = =   
  
Jondy had left Jam Pony as soon as she reassured Sketchy that she wouldn't be so cruel as to pay him off to keep his mouth closed if they ever had consummating sex, and it obviously restored his faith in humanity because he left her alone after that with the biggest smile on his face.   
  
The morning sun cast its light on the dingy Seattle sidewalks like a poor attempt by an artist to make something obviously run down look better then it could be because the sight of it was too embarrassing to paint.  
  
But even with all its flaws the Seattle streets were alive with bustling activity, something Jondy always found comfort in. Right after the escape from Manticore she had made into Wyoming's capital city of Cheyenne just as the sun was starting to come up over the business district. People were out already in the predawn hours opening their business or enjoying a cup of coffee from a sidewalk café before they had to go into their high power jobs. They gawked at the sight of an eight-year-old girl, barefoot, with shaved hair and dressed in a thin hospital gown wandering around on the sidewalk. They tried to get Jondy's name out of her but she didn't even stop to say anything because they were all the 'enemy' to her because of their strange, very unmilitary style dress and total disrespect for her by treating her like a mere child. She slept in the city for one night, in a back alley behind a Chinese restaurant, after which she had stolen a hybrid motorbike and had driven as far as the gas would take her. When the thing finally rolled over to 'E' she had stopped in California. The Pacific Ocean was so calming that Jondy decided to stay. When she was fifteen she landed a job at a bar waiting tables, but then she took online classes to earn her teaching degree at seventeen and she had been going ever since.   
  
She liked what she did, it was easy because of how intelligent she was, but also challenging dealing with kids not much older then her, trying to not waste their abilities by being lazy and chasing ass. But she never even thought that her career choice would lead her to a student that would reunite her with Max.  
  
And now here she was in Seattle walking out of the delivery service where her sister worked, like it was all part of a grand plan she had cooked up a long time ago. Max looked just how Jondy knew she would turn out to be - a knockout, curvy and sensual but also intellectual and a smart ass. It was also the way Jondy turned out - long dirty blonde almost brown hair, gray blue eyes and a body that attracted more men they she wanted around her at one time.   
  
Trey was hitting on her body last night. She wasn't in it for a long-term relationship and neither was he. There was a silent mutual understanding that what they were doing wasn't love making, it was sex, pure and simple. He wasn't gonna call her and she wasn't gonna call him unless she wanted some more of the way he tasted.   
  
But right now Jondy had another taste desire in her, and that was for some strong coffee. She had gained addiction to caffeine a while back and wasn't about to fight it. A tiny shack stand sat a few yards ahead of her just off the sidewalk beckoned to her and she made a vertical b-line for the short Hindu man standing beside a huge cast iron brewer.   
  
"Large and black." Jondy requested of the vendor and waited while he poured her order into a stained but clean Styrofoam cup.   
  
"Two please," the man said setting her coffee in front of her on the rotted wood surface that served as a receiving counter.   
  
Jondy handed him the two dollars and left with the steaming cup in her hand, welcoming the warmth. Although the sun was out it was still a chilly 62 degrees and the beginnings of a cloudy overcast was creeping across the sky.   
  
She walked along the sidewalk again, a little slower so she wouldn't scald herself on her coffee while she drank it. A few older well-dressed men in brown sheepskin trench coats and wearing old fashioned fifty's style hats tapped their brims politely to Jondy offering a cheery: "Good morning Miss." to her as she passed them.   
  
Jondy's smile to them was completely honest. She didn't think that chilvaristic manners like that still existed in the world. But it was a very welcome change to every man who pimped on her and grabbed at his nuts through his pants so she could see his bulge.  
  
_Logan must treat Maxie like that sometimes. He's from the same breeding mold, well as least he BETTER treat her like that or Seattle's gonna be deprived of one more rich liberal white guy. _She was still riding on the effects of the two men's warm greeting to her when she passed by an alley way almost completely hidden by the myriad of crudely fashioned shop stalls.  
  
She stepped off onto to the road to get past three bicyclers and one guy working on his rusted out Nissan Extera in the middle of the sidewalk. Her feet slipped in a puddle from last night's rain that was pooled next to a drainage ditch.   
  
She would've lost her balance had it not been for her cat like reflexes saving her from coating herself with her just paid for coffee. "Shit." She cursed to herself, pulling out the finger she had to stick into the cup to keep it from spilling. The hot liquid had all but scalded her finger and she sucked on it for a minute like a little girl who had just pricked her finger on her mother's sewing needle.   
  
The alleyway she had just passed suddenly caught her eye while she was attending to her very minor injury. Rats ran around empty cans that had been knocked over so that their filthy contents spilled out, a chance at a free meal for a sewer animal. But that wasn't what she was looking at.   
  
Next to the corner of a building that helped formed the alleyway was the tail end of Zack's bike.  
  
Jondy walked cautiously over to the alleyway, having to cover her nose at the familiar smell of blood, memories of Manticore flashing though her mind. A woman's was lying on her side, and Jondy could now see that the blood was coming from a jagged hole sliced across her abdomen. Jondy knelt down to get a closer look but before she even got an inch closer to the body something slammed into her back. The grip was strong, and instantly Jondy knew who it was  
  
"Zack-" Jondy could only get out his name because he pounced on her at the sound of her voice gripping her around the neck in an air cutting death lock.   
  
_"Zack!"_ Jondy choked, it's me, Jondy." She felt herself being released and turned to face her brother, but a second later a shocked look came across her eyes as she choked forcing air into her bruised wind pipe. A flow of leaking blood was oozing from a nasty gash cut completely through the sleeve of his leather jacket and shirt. Zack seemed to pay no attention to it, or perhaps shock had set in without him realizing it.   
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Jondy finally regained control of her breathing.   
  
"There's so much blood." came the reply.  
  
Zack finally said something but what he said didn't seem to make any kind of sense and this was incredibly strange to her because even if Zack were drunk and bleeding out from a thousand knife wounds he would still be coherent. But before she could ask him what the hell he meant she looked down at a trail of blood was steadily trickling from thewoman's body, slender and thin, but even that grotesque sight did not cover up the fact that she was very beautiful.   
  
"Zack?" Jondy questioned. The woman was obviously dying but her face wasn't one that she recognized and she would remember those kinds of features. "What happened? Who is she?"  
  
"Some stupid recently ball dropped kid attacked an hour ago. Shot up with god knows how much LSD, he matched me in a fight before he stabbed her." He answered one of Jondy's questions, but his voice was detached like he was describing events that happened to someone else instead of him.   
  
Jondy stared again at the woman's body, but this time not to cringe at the sight of the blood but to see if there was something she could do. She still had no idea who this woman was, but the way Zack talked about was the same way he talked about Max, a voice of worry from a man who claimed not indulge himself in weak emotions.   
  
It was hard for Jondy to tell how many times the woman had been stabbed because a puddle of blood from all the wounds intermingled in the center of her chest. She wiped some of it away with her hands and then saw a stab wound through her chest right in between her fifth and sixth rib. But after looking a little bit more she came to the sickening conclusion that most of the blood wasn't coming from this wound but from a three inch jagged hole that had been sliced across her hips and crotch. "We've got to get her to a hospital, she's bleeding out."  
  
"No!" Zack's spat out venomously. "No hospitals, you know they ask too many questions Jondy."  
  
"What kind of questions do you think they'll ask Zack?" Jondy asked, sticking both hands on the woman's wounds to try and slow the blood flow. "What is it about this girl that you're not telling me?"  
  
_/FLASHBACK: (In Spanish) "I don't want to have ANYTHING to do with you greengo!" Maria spat venomously in Zack's face. She had noticed him following her when she had left Logan's apartment to volunteer to go to the market to get some fruit. Logan had objected, saying that it was too dangerous, but Maria insisted because she was already putting him out. "You abandoned me!" Her words were more sad then angry. There had been a time when she had loved him and his betrayal hurt that much more because of it. She started heading down towards an alleyway but he caught up with her and snatched her arm.  
  
"What the hell do you want me to do?" Zack cursed back in Spanish. "I can't turn back time Maria. It's just the way things are! And if you think that you're the only one who's suffered because of it you're VERY much mistaken little girl."_  
  
She turned her eyes up to him then; an icy stare in her gaze but a tear still hovered at the corner _of her eyelid. "You loved me Zack, despite what you say." Her tear had escaped. "And that's why fucking me over hurts so much."  
  
"Senorita I'd like to fuck you right now." A thin sounding punk voice broke into their fight and before Maria knew what was going on the man had stabbed her through her chest with a six- inch butcher knife._  
  
_Maria screamed and crumpled to the ground on her back, blood gushing out from her body. Zack whirled on the skeletal shaped man and locked a strong hand around his neck but the kid slashed at his arm so quickly and furiously that Zack lost his grip and didn't have time to defend against the counter kick to his back that knocked him flat on his back .The kid was crazy on some drug induced high and moved in a fast blur. Zack quickly jumped back on his feet only to hear Maria scream again, weaker as the kid slashed at her crotch.   
  
"Sorry baby, but you have to be fixed-" his sentence ended abruptly when Zack forced the blade of the knife around and sliced him through his trachea.   
  
The kid screamed, suddenly voiceless and gripped at the torn flesh that was oozing out blood, and he stumbled into a run out of the alleyway, but fell into a pile of trash after 10 steps, and Zack didn't chase him after that./_  
  
"Just fuckin' help me Jondy and stop the interrogation!" He leaned over and picked up the woman who settled uneasy and limp with dead weight in his arms.  
  
The woman's eyes were slightly open but her pupils had rolled back into her head, glazed and unfocused. "She may be beyond help Zack."  
  
Jondy eyed the woman her brother was ferociously protecting, still not knowing her name or anything about her other then the stab wounds that were slashed in a grizzly fashion across her body.   
  
"That's not a request." Zack barked back, kicking in the window a beat up Pinto sitting on the side of the road and laying Maria in the backseat. He hotwired the car and took off down the road just as the car's owner came screaming out of the doughnut shop he had just been in.  
  
= = = =   
  
BANGKOK, THAILAND  
  
Mei-Mei stood over the plot of dirt that had been dug into the ground. At the bottom of the hole was a tiny form wrapped in a white shroud. The sky was full of clouds, some dark from an approaching storm, but the sky remained a hazy orange above their heads as the sun was setting.  
  
John stood beside the open hole, leaning on a metal shovel and panting heavily the exertion he had just underwent to dig the small grave next to his tarpapered shack. Mei-Mei had no money or for a cemetery so this was what was improvised, done near sunset because burial on residential property was forbidden.  
  
There was no headstone to identify the small child that lay in the hole, just a tiny gold necklace with a tiny green jade Buddha statue that Mei-Mei's husband had given her the day her son was born. It lay on top of the shroud, a tiny hint of color around all the gray dirt.  
  
Mei-Mei stared at the shroud, unblinking, wearing a thin satin lace undergarment because it was the only thing she owned that was black. The cold wind was cutting through the see through fabric but she took no notice of it.   
  
"Say something." She demanded of John. "I'm not good at remembering religious words."  
  
She had no emotions in her voice, no sadness, no anger. She just sounded dead.   
  
John set his shovel down in a small tuft of grass. "We bury a child before his time Buddha." He reached down with a bare hand to pick up a clump of dirt that was piled next to the open grave. "Comfort the tiny soul that was not ready for the glory of your heaven." He let the dirty fall into the grave, picking up his shovel again. "You want to say something, do it now before I cover the body?"  
  
Mei-Mei looked down at the shroud, and then jumped into the grave, finding a small patch of earth on which she could stand. She leaned down close to his body, as if he could still hear her.  
  
"Forgive me."  
  
John offered her a hand up as she turned slowly to step out of the hole. She took the shovel from John, and with slow but determined movements began to bury her son.   
  
= = = =  
  
SEATTLE PRECINCT   
11: 22 AM  
  
All eyes were on Ming as they had been for the last hour when she had first come in. The women in the room looked a little better now that they had gotten to sleep without reassurance that there was nothing to fear. Ming had stayed with them for hours the night before, only going home to shed her dirty clothes for a pair of clean jeans and a gray button up long sleeved shirt.   
  
Ming sat on a chair a Detective Sung had given her, watching the girls, waiting for one of them to begin to talk. None of them had said anything since she arrived, but she had come in case that changed.  
  
The metal door that led inside the interrogation room opened, Detective Sung standing in its doorway. She liked Sung, he wasn't corrupt or a bad ass; he was the kind of man who did what he had to do to help people. "I have somewhere here for you Ming."  
  
Sung held open the door and through it stepped Cree. "Mom?"  
  
All the women turned at the sound of the word; some of them believing that through some miracle one of their children had managed to find them in America. But when none of them recognized the girl that came through the door and their hopes soon fizzled out.   
  
Ming stood up from her chair to greet her daughter. "I didn't expect you to come down here." She had called Cree an hour ago to let her know what happened but never thought her daughter would actually come to the Police headquarters.  
  
Sung closed the door behind him quietly, respecting their need for privacy. Cree stared at her mother, then at all the women who looked war ravaged and hauntingly thin in their brightly colored dresses. Their eyes all followed Cree too, taking in the extreme beauty of her almond eyes and full lips, looking at her with a longing to remember what it was like when they felt that beautiful.   
  
Cree approached the women slowly and they drew closer to her, seeking something, and believing that she would give it to them. Cree looked over all the faces and saw herself, the long dark hours of pain and humiliation that was worn like a battle scar on all the women's faces, and her own. She had so much in common with them, but she didn't know what to say. Comforting words would mean nothing to these women who had endured hell. It would erase it from their minds.  
  
"What's gonna happen to them?" Cree directed this question at her mother, knowing that there wasn't a simple answer but she needed to hear something.  
  
"I don't know baby," Ming answered truthfully. "I'm trying to find a permanent place for them, somewhere where they can feel safe, but it hasn't been easy. "The reality is that every bounty hunter is out there looking for them - there not even safe in these walls." Ming saw something in Cree's eyes that looked different, something had changed about her, but it wasn't a bad thing. She had a fulfillment in her eyes that only a woman could know of. But now was not the time to ask her about it.   
  
Cree nodded silently, feeling incredibly guilty that these women could only be offered a pseudo sense of security and even that wouldn't last. "We can't just let go back to pedaled flesh for some pimp mom. They've come to far to go back to that kind of hell."  
  
"I know baby I know." Ming agreed whole-heartedly, gazing at the women again. "If it was you, I would know what to do. I would defy all protocol and take them far away from here."  
  
"But it _was_ me mom." Cree interjected. "I was one of them." Her eyes became just as haunted as the other women as she remembered what it was like when she was in their place.  
  
Ming saw the sadness in her daughter's eyes, a dark lonely place that she couldn't reach her. She placed a hand on Cree's shoulder. "I'll work something out. I promise."  
  
Cree looked around to the other women, trying to reassure them with her eyes that things would get better, and only hopping that they actually believed her.   
  
= = = =   
  
FOGLE TOWERS  
  
Maria was in constant pain on Logan's bed. She had been brought there at Jondy's insistence and was lying deathly still with crude dressings on her body that wasn't doing enough to stop the blood from leaking out of her. The knife wound through her vagina was the goriest sight, oozing out through the bandages that weren't big enough to cover it entirely. The exposed part of the injury was a hideous mixture of torn pink flesh and globs of dried blood. Her skin was pasty and her eyes had a glazed look over them, but she was still conscious.   
  
"How bad is it?" Zack demanded standing next to the bed in the stance of a soldier on the alert. His arm was still bleeding through the makeshift dressing he had made with pieces of fabric he had torn off his shirt, but he took no notice of it.  
  
Bling looked up from his examination of Maria, his eyes already giving it away. "She's lost a lot of blood. Probably over two liters before you brought her here."  
  
"So give her a transfusion." Zack growled.   
  
"It's not that easy." Bling responded sadly, standing up to meet the other man's eye. "Whoever did this too her knew what he was doing, the cuts are all very precise. She has at least three shredded arteries that I know of, and without surgery she'll continue to bleed out until she has nothing left."  
  
"What are you saying?" Zack snapped.  
  
Bling paused for a long second before answering him. "She's dying Zack." He waited to let the words sink in. "She probably won't make it through the day."  
  
Zack went completely quiet, a small part of him looking like he didn't want to believe Bling's words. "So that's it? You're just gonna admit defeat?"  
  
"There's nothing we can do." Bling said softly. "If we take her to a hospital now someone could track her down and she would be as good as dead anyway." There was something in Zack's eyes that revealed to Bling how painful it was for him to hear this. It was the only indication he would get from Zack that he was hurting.   
  
"You can't just let her die." Zack insisted forcefully, glaring at Bling like he was the enemy.  
  
"Zack," Max's voice was soft. She had been standing in the doorway and started to approach him. She watched him slowly, almost painfully; turn his head to look at her. "Bling's right - I'm sorry."  
  
"What the hell are you sorry for Maxie?" Zack retorted in a swirl of hatred and sadness. "You think apologizing for all this mess is gonna make it better?"  
  
"You can't help her." Max said honestly, down trodden. She stepped closer to him. "There's nothing you can do-"  
  
"Shut up!" Zack spat, his face was beginning to give into his emotions and he turned back around so no one would see it.   
  
Maria's eyes opened on the bed, but her gaze was weak and sluggish. (In Spanish): "Zack?"  
  
Zack looked down at her face, startled by her being awake. He knelt down beside the bed, studying her like a book he didn't want to forget after it was destryoed.   
  
(In Spanish): "You didn't save me before-"  
  
(Spanish continues throughout conversation) "I couldn't-"   
  
"You didn't save me before." Maria cut off Zack's words with her own that were pained and raspy. She took in a shallow breath of air. "But you saved me today-"  
  
"A lot of good it did." Zack's words were bitter. "All it got you was a more painful way to die."  
  
Maria sorrowfully reached up and touched his face with her palm, weakly caressing his skin with her fingers. "Even if I don't want to die yet." A tear slid out of her eye and fell onto the pillow top, but her eyes remained focused on Zack's. Pure anguish was covering her features, the face of a dying woman who found out too late about the one thing she wanted most in the world.  
  
"Did you love me?" Her words were so quiet that even Zack's advanced hearing had trouble picking up the noise, but when he realized what she had asked, he didn't know how to answer, for an entirely different reason.   
  
= = = =  
  
_Don't lie to me   
Even if it's gonna make me cry  
Say what you mean  
Even if it hurts me deep inside_  
  
= = = = =   
  
"Zack?" Maria sounded defeated because she didn't receive an answer. And she believed that this was her answer.   
  
(In Spanish) "How could I not?" Zack words weren't the ideal romance novel ones where two lovers finally found their blissful moment. They were sad, broken, and angry all at the same time. Zack was finally admitting something that he himself never wanted to believe, but like everything else in his life it had come too late.  
  
= = = =   
  
_Oh Listen to me  
And don't you dare say it's too late  
I am your meant to be  
Your eternity  
Shouldn't settle for anything less  
To ignore this you'll regret_  
  
= = = =   
  
(Spanish continues)  
  
Zack's expression changed, but it was a very subtle difference that only Maria could see from the angle she was lying at. He held up something in her line of sight. "This is yours." The tiny gold crucifix dangled from his fingers.  
  
Maria recognized the jewelry she had laid on the dresser of the hotel that night. She was going to go back and get it the next morning after going to the market with her brothers, but then the guerillas came. "I had to be dying for you to finally give it back to me."  
  
"Cut the crap Maria." Zack reprimanded softly, but there was no anger in his words.  
  
Maria laughed dryly, a cracking sound in her throat before, but then her face shifted into a grimace of pain. "Ay." She sucked in a gasping breath, loosing her desperate fight to get air. "Don't worry. I don't have much more 'crap' to give you."  
  
"Maria-" Her name escaped Zack's mouth like homage to everything normal that was offered to him in his life that was brutally ripped away.   
  
Maria's eyes were becoming more glazed over, but she still looked up at Zack, mustering an unknown strength to keep them open. She was now staying alive on pure will power. "You loved me, I always knew-" the last part of her words was muted out, a sentence she would never complete because her shallow breathing stopped and her eyes finally closed.  
  
= = = =   
  
_Can you tell me that I'm not her  
Say I'm not the one who completes your world  
Who should share your name  
Who should wear your ring   
When I've always been your girl_  
  
= = = =   
  
Bling leaned over quietly and checked for the pulse in her neck, nothing was beating under her fingertips. "She's gone."  
  
Zack turned to face him, a quiet but fierce anguish written on his face. "Don't you think I know that already?" He turned back around took look at Maria's face, now unmoving in the unchanging face of death. He laid the necklace in the dip created by her collarbone. (In Spanish): "You were the most beautiful woman in that shitty little market." He stood up and leaned over to give her a kiss her above her closed eyelids.  
  
Max watched the scene in silence, but a sadness settled over her as she watched her brother do something uncharacteristic of him, succumb to his emotions. "Zack-"  
  
He turned to her quickly, as if looking away from Maria fast enough would erase her death from his memory. "Don't Max." his words were a low warning, not wanting her to start a conversation that he didn't want to have.   
  
No one noticed when Logan stepped into the room. He looked at the motionless woman lying in his bed, then at Zack, understanding what had gone one without a single word being said. "I'm sorry to do this now, but I have some information." He paused, stopping just a few steps into his bedroom, trying to ready the group there for what he was about to say. "It turns out the man who stabbed Maria wasn't just some junkie on the street. He was a bounty hunter from the Southside district."  
  
Zack looked at Logan in stunned silence. "That doesn't make any sense. Why the hell would a bounty hunter kill a random woman on the street?" What Logan was telling him was not actually registering. Maria had just died in front of him, stabbed to death by an unknown sleazy addict that was logical. Seattle was full of pimps and street dirt bags that got their ya yas out by random acts of rape and slayings. But no one hired out a bounty hunter on a person unless they really wanted them dead. "Who hired the fucker out?" Zack's words were demanding.  
  
"An order was put in with this particular bounty hunter that originated from a T3 secure government line. The caller's name was Donald Lydecker."  
  
Max stared at Logan like he had just slapped her then, then looking back to Zack she saw the same shocked look in hiseyes.  
  
= = = =  
  
Don't worry this will all start making sense soon. I found a way to link Manticore and Cree's situation together, but I have to establish some things first. Sorry this took a while to get up I had some writer's block. The scene with Zack and Maria was inspired by "Cold Comfort" with Max and Zack leaving Brin on the bench. It's tragic for Maria to die, but Zack would never just go back to being 'in love' with her, and her death is a crucial key to advance the story.  
  
Cree will be in _all_ the rest of the chapters cause this is her story after all. Now that I found a way to intertwine Max's Manticore history with this story better I won't have to worry about making this too much about Max and not about Cree. (hope that makes sense)  
  
Songs used are:   
Cree and Ty 'love scene'-"Unchained Melody" (The Righteous Brothers)  
Zack and Maria- "Always Been Your Girl." (Heather Headley)  
  
R/R please.


	16. Openly Wounded

Chapter 16 - Openly Wounded  
  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Is this some kind of sick front where you warp people into believing what is a very fucked scenario?" Zack asked, or rather demanded from Logan. The name 'Donald Lydecker' still rang in his ears and his mind raced a mile a minute trying to figure out why the antichrist from his world had put a hit on a woman he didn't even know about.  
  
"Only it's true." Logan defended, biting back a sigh at the X5's disbelief because he knew he had just suffered a tragic loss even if he was too hotheaded to admit it. They -Logan, Max, Zack and Jondy- were now all standing in Logan' living room while Bling was completing the self appointed task of shrouding Maria's body in sheets before Dr. Shankar was scheduled to pick her up.  
  
"But that doesn't make any sense." Jondy agreed with her brother on the situation. "Lydecker never knew about Zack's relationship with Maria, and if he did why the hell would he even care?" She stared at Logan for a good three seconds, sensing there was something else to it that he hadn't said yet. "What else is there you're not telling us?"  
  
This time Logan's sigh came out, but it was very small because he knew that she had figured it out. "I'm telling you that Maria wasn't an ordinary prostitute." He said the word 'prostitute' but knew it wasn't the right word as soon as it came out of his mouth. He just didn't know of another way to describe her identity to relate it to what he was about to tell them.  
  
"She _wasn't_ a prostitute!" Zack defended in full anger mode. The only woman he had cared for outside of his sisters had just died and Logan Cale had the nerve to call what she was forced to do prostitution. "Prostitution is what rich bastards like you do to little starving girls on the street."  
  
Logan ignored this, he knew how hot-tempered Zack was and getting into an argument with him would lead nowhere. "That call Lydecker made to the bounty hunter wasn't to kill off some hired sexual partner he was embarrassed he paid for. It was the planned execution of one of the subjects from a Manticore project."  
  
"You're dancing around me Cale," Zack growled. "Cut the crap and bring this waltz to a stop."  
  
"Maria was what is known in Manticore as a Breeding Terminal," Logan said. "A project that pulled in homeless women, prostitutes, ex hookers, any woman that had no ties to anyone that would be looking for her if she disappeared. Manticore was running out of fertile eggs to continue their project because the early geneticists never even thought of collecting more then three or four eggs from every surrogate mother. So they hunted up more women off the street and grouped them together for this special project to continue the X5 line. After you escaped it crippled their combat units so much that they needed to pump out more officers in very quick time.  
  
"Manticore has really messed up ways with getting its swerve on," Max hissed in a low voice.  
  
Logan silently agreed with her but couldn't find anything to say that would even remotely take the edge off the situation. "After the ova were taken the women were sent back out from where they came from, or sold into prostitution to keep their existence low key. They were poor and uneducated so Lydecker and the others didn't see the need to execute them because no one would believe their stories. But a few months ago one of the women found a sympathetic journalist who believed her story enough to put it on the local news. Manticore caught wind of the leak and pulled out all the stops with their attack teams to stop it. The woman was found shot to death behind a strip club, and all the information on her story was destroyed. But their manpower risked exposing the project, so they hired local bounty hunters to do the job for them. That kid that attacked Maria was just one of the assassins Manticore paid off to erase all evidence of their project."  
  
Zack still looked at Logan in shock at the new information. He hated Manticore with the passion of only those who lived through its hell could understand, but he still prided himself on knowing what went on there. "Are you sure any of this is even true?" His voice was angry, cynical.  
  
"We'll know this afternoon when Dr. Shankar examines Maria's body. If I'm right the procedure to remove her ova will have left her completely sterile."  
  
Max cringed at the mention of Maria being completely sterile. As a woman she understood the grotesque violation to have someone manually remove your chance to have children. Her cringe died a minute later and her eyes became hard. "When is Dr. Shankar doing this bitch?"  
  
"I have it set up for this afternoon." Logan responded quietly, watching Zack leave the room in a swirl of conflicting emotions, but anger was at the top of those emotions.  
  
Max watched him go, wanting to follow him, but not knowing what to say.  
  
Logan focused his attention on her. "Are you okay?"  
  
She snapped her head up to him. "How the hell am I supposed to be?" Her eyes were burning with an angry passion. "You just got through telling me that Maticore just killed the one person my brother loved outside of his family. And to top that bitch off they violated a woman in the most warped way I've ever heard of. I'm not okay about this Logan 'cause I'm a woman too and what they did to her is just sick."  
  
Logan took a few tentative steps towards her but they became stronger as he got closer to her. He wrapped one arm behind her back and pulled her to him, quietly kissing her once on the forehead, then on the lips.  
  
Max fell into the kiss; cupping his face with her hands, but three seconds later she pulled back. "I have to go talk to him." She pulled away from him and felt his eyes on her as she headed out after Zack.  
  
She walked hurriedly down the hall and found her brother standing outside the opened front doorway leaning against the wall to wait for the elevator.  
  
He caught sight of her looking at him and turned his head in a slow movement towards her. "How many more have to die for moments of weakness?"  
  
"This wasn't your fault," Max took a tentative step towards Zack as if she were approaching a wild leopard that would bolt at the slightest hurried movements. "Don't blame yourself for falling in love with her. It's not what got her killed."  
  
Zack's eyes turned cold, not at Max, but for the situation. "Then what did get her killed?" Max's answer to this was silence. The elevator dinged and he stepped inside it, still looking at her as they closed behind him.  
  
XXXXXXXX  
  
Zack was the only one in the elevator and after the car began its descent he stared blankly at the metal walls as the elevator's motors 'whooshed' around him. The car was small, larger then most because it serviced a luxury high-rise apartment building, but still a claustrophobic space just the same. His leaned against one of the walls, head tilted back like a weary traveler fed up with holding himself up under his own power.  
  
He cast his eyes upward staring at the florescent lights set into the ceiling, not paying attention to the whizzing scenery that was visible through the window of the elevator whose track was set in a glass tube like structure that gave its riders a striking view of the Seattle Business district. Zack stared - un seeing - at the lights, not caring that they were harsh on his eyes.  
  
His arms hung loosely by his side and below his feet were crossed in a lazy fashion, a stance that would make him look sexy to any woman who entered the car. But their desires would never be reciprocated because he had locked himself down like an Army base on red alert to keep out all outside emotions that would interfere with the way he wanted to feel.  
  
The numbers on the panel slowly lit up as the elevator brought him closer to the ground floor of Fogle Towers. Those numbers however suffered a manual malfunction when his fist connected with the panel. The glass shattered off the display and sprayed around the floor.  
  
Zack kicked away the broken glass and slid both hands through his hair as if he wanted to rip it out strand by strand. He turned around and launched his fury again, this time on the sidewall of the elevator and it sustained a dent in its metal walls from his attack. He whirled around again to the glass viewing wall, arm raised, as if he would destroy that side too, but his fist loosened and his hand instead reached out to take a hold of the wall to support himself as he dipped his head down squeezing his eyes shut but a few drops of moisture escaped anyway and landed like rain onto the shards of glass.  
  
He raised his head and propelled himself back with his hand so that he was now standing beside the opposite metal wall. Once there he dropped in a crouched position with his hand laced behind his neck and cried.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxx

_Playground school bell rings,again _

_Rain clouds come to play, again Has no one told you she's not breathing?_

_Hello, I'm your mind, giving you someone to talk to...hello._

_If I smile and don't believe_

xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
The elevator finally opened to the ground floor and when Zack got off he came face to face with two women in surgical scrubs carrying a gurney with a body bag on top of it. One of the women - Indian born with long brown hair that was pulled into a loose ponytail - studied Zack for a moment; almost like she was checking him out but then she spoke with a completely professional voice.  
  
"Excuse me Sir, can you tell me if this elevator accesses the penthouse?"  
  
Zack stared at the woman with no emotion; not even caring that she was pretty and that she had politely called him 'Sir' even thought hardly anyone did that anymore.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
_Soon I know I'll wake from this dream _

_Don't try to fix me I'm not broken _

_Hello, I'm the lie living for you so you can hide..._  
  
xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
"Elevator's broken," Zack said shoving past Dr. Beverly Shankar and her assistant who looked on at the strange man as he slammed his way out of the glass door of the building.  
  
xxxxxxxxxx  
  
_Don't cry_

_Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping _

_Hello, I'm still here, all that's left Of yesterday..._  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
The water was still in front of the dock as the lone figure waited impatiently checking his watch for the fifth time. The sun shown brightly over the water's surface as the man pulled out a cigarette from a pack in his pocket and lit it with a single blue tipped match. The man was middle aged, and handsome in an authoritative way. He stared out over the water while smoking not bothering to check his watch again because he already knew if his meeting didn't start soon there would be hell to pay.  
  
"Sir!" a second man in a gray business suit walked briskly up to the figure on the dock, his open trench coat flapping around his legs. "Sorry for the delay Sir."  
  
Donald Lydecker turned his head up to the balding man - a one Agent Sandoval - who looked at the Army Colonel with apologetic, but not embarrassed eyes.  
  
"A delay Agent Sandoval is holding me up for five minutes. Twenty-five minutes a blatant disregard for your superior," Lydecker snapped coldly.  
  
"Sir I-"  
  
"Never mind the excuses," Lydecker cut in. "Just brief me on the situation."  
  
"Someone intercepted the assignation of one of the girls." Sandoval explained.  
  
"Is that all?" Lydecker growled. He was not at all happy that he had come for a meeting of no importance. "You drag me away from my work to tell me some kid with a hard on tried to save the damsel in distress because she was pretty enough for him to want to screw for himself?"  
  
"It wasn't just some kid on the street Sir," Sandoval corrected. "The bounty hunter was attacked by one of Manticore, specifically an X5 Sir, one of yours -X5-599 I believe."  
  
Lydecker absorbed this information putting his thumb and pointer finger under his chin to stroke and invisible beard. "Is this confirmed?"  
  
"Yes Sir, positive ID was made by a Hover Camera that showed a small shadow on the back of the man's neck, it was fuzzy but the tech heads managed to bring it up to an identifiable barcode."  
  
"Why would he risk exposing himself to save this girl?" Lydecker asked. "He was taught better then that."  
  
"When the girl was brought into the project she was given a vaginal exam before her ova were harvested. Seamen was collected that matched the DNA of X5-599."  
  
Lydecker looked shocked at Sandoval's information because it was something that happened months ago and he was never told about it. "And when did you plan to inform me of this Agent Sandoval?"  
  
"It was something classified Colonel. Manticore personnel felt that you didn't need to know-"  
  
"You're telling me everyone just saw it fit to leave me out of the loop about one of my kids screwing around with civilian women when she could have been manipulated to give information on him?" Lydecker was beyond pissed.  
  
"No Sir," Sandoval corrected trying to sound like he believed what he said. "There was just never an appropriate time to let you in on this information."  
  
Deck laughed, almost, rather it was a rush air that might be expected to emit from an exhaust fan. "That's a very civil way to say this department thinks I'm full of bull Agent Sandoval." He stared out over the waterfront, squinting his eyes to shield them from the sun. "But you wouldn't be the first one to underestimate my ability to do my job." Deck stopped looking over the rippling water and turned back to fix the partially balding man with a cold glare. "If X5-599 saw fit to compromise himself by whacking a pretty Spanish girl then I want to know why."  
  
"Maybe you should ask him Sir," Sandoval stated.  
  
Deck shot him with a cold glare that would've killed Sandoval had he not been use to such looks already. "I plan to."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
SEATTLE CITY MORGUE

SECTOR 8  
  
"I can review my findings with you now if you like," Dr. Shankar stated peeling off her latex gloves and chucking them into a biohazard trash bin beside the autopsy table.  
  
"It's not a matter of what we like," Max spoke up. She was standing beside the metal exam table where the body of Maria lay covered by a blue cloth.  
  
A bright halogen light was turned on above the table and Dr. Shankar pulled it closer to the body and pulled off the blue sheet that shrouded it. Beverly Shankar was no stranger to brutal killings but after examining Maria's remains even she had to take a step back and the gruesome matter her body was left in.  
  
"This guy was obviously very specialized in his field. There was no guess work involved in this-"  
Dr. Shankar's intelligent female voice was steady and professional, but not out of being so detached from her patients that she saw them as mindless objects. Rather it was because she had to stay professional otherwise she wouldn't be able to finish what she had to say. She pointed to a large curved shaped laceration that started at the entrance of Maria's vagina, wrapped around her navel and ended midway down her right thigh. "This one slash struck the main artery that supplies blood to the uterus and vagina and it also slashed the femoral artery. This girl was lucky she lived as long as she did after the attack."  
  
"Were there any eternal findings?" Logan asked. He stood beside Max, staring at the pale body of a woman he had just met two days ago. Her death was still recent so her lips still retained a hint of their pink color and her hair had not yet dulled and faded. She looked to be sleeping or perhaps in a deep coma from an injury, but not dead. The only indication of her being dead was that she was in a morgue with her body recently sewed up from an autopsy.  
  
"I did a vaginal exam like you asked," Dr. Shankar told him. "There was some significant tearing through the right fallopian tube and top of the uterus but the ovaries were in still in tact - as well in tact as they could be in this situation I mean."  
  
"You mean she didn't have any eggs left," Max said quietly trying to swallow the nausea of picturing a woman being stripped of all her ova and left barren.  
  
"On the contrary I found twelve eggs total in both ovaries. But all of them were dead, their DNA had been warped so much that they couldn't be viable to produce any survivable offspring. I also found traces of a low level radiation in her blood work up."  
  
"Radiation?" Logan asked, wondering why that would be used in Maria's case.  
  
"Usually a woman will release ova once a month during her regular menstruation. But if someone wanted to get those eggs out of her sooner they could inject her with a specific cocktail of radioactive particles and send her into what's known as super ovulation. All of her eggs would flood the uterus at once making it easier for the ova to be extracted. My guess is the twelve remaining eggs were weak to begin with and the introduction of radiation killed them." Dr. Shankar paused for a moment, hesitating to ask a question she wasn't sure anyone would answer. "Did anyone have intercourse with this woman within the last seven months?"  
  
Logan looked to Max, waiting for some silent approval from her before answering Shankar's question. Receiving none he decided to take it on himself. "Why is that relevant?"  
  
"A few small traces of semen were found in and around the vaginal opening, but there were no sperm within the fluid." Dr. Shankar stated. "Due to the prolonged time the fluid has been there it is doubtful that if there was any sperm left they would have survived this long, but that brings me to another scenario," Shankar paused, not for dramatic flair, but because she was trying to make sure she was actually speculating something so - unnerving. "Sperm can survive up to thirty-six hours outside of the male body. That gave whoever did these ovum extractions a three-day window to extract another viable specimen - live sperm. And judging by the way the sperm were removed from her body with the same attention as her ova makes me suspect that whoever this man was he was someone whose DNA is held in high regards with these guys. Regards high enough to multiply his genetic makeup a hundred times over."  
  
Max cringed mentally at Shankar's information. Manticore never hid the fact that the X5 class was some of their finest work. Their DNA makeup was contained in the genetics lab to use in the creation of mirror X class clones. But each new set of clones brought along its share of problems, free radicals in the unstable cell matrix lead to gruesome defects - anomiles that had to be locked down in the basement. The only successful cloning of the X5 class DNA had been the X7s. Though they were superior to the X5's in skill and speed Max now knew that Lydecker found a way to eliminate the instability creating a clone - by creating X5 _offspring _not clones. Though most combinations of X5 and human DNA resulted in normal babies the top ranked males and a few of the females of the X5 class had the ability to pass on their genetic makeup in procreation. Obviously Manticore had somehow figured out that Zack was one of those cases, and had decided to taken advantage of a two-for-one situation when they discovered that it was his sperm that had saturated Maria's body.  
  
Dr. Shankar covered Maria's body with a cloth. "I can give Eyes Only a copy of the autopsy findings if he wants."  
  
Logan nodded silently, watching as Beverly Shankar took that as a form of acceptance and went to copy her autopsy records and to shred the ones she had.  
  
XXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
SOUTH MARKET

Cree strolled slowly, but purposely through the vast over crowded market stalls. There were tons of customers out and not enough vendors to meet their demands for food, clothes, medicine, stolen Rolexes. She had been in to see Ty at the firehouse and despite the cheesy look some of his coworkers shot her; their new sense of intimacy did wonders for her. It had been the deepest connection she had felt with any guy ever. And she could deal with some stupid looser firemen who's only deep connection ever experienced was yanking themselves really really hard. She had offered to come by his apartment that night and fix dinner for him, and after discovering he had only half a granola bar and a bottle of Colt 45 from his roommate she decided to go shopping for the affair. It felt almost domestic if she was into the whole apron wearing, baking cookies kinda thing. She didn't want to play housewife, she just wanted to be with Ty, and to - thank him - among other things.  
  
The ground at the market was filthy and wet with the leavings of rain and the leavings of semen from those hooking up after the market closed. Cree pushed by several people - brushing against them closer then two strangers should ever have to. But they didn't make a fuss and she paid them the same respect. The days of crying out frivolous claims towards sexual harassment were long gone. Americans were now left with the knowledge that in order to survive in a Pulse ridden Third World they would have to get over all ideas of personal space.  
  
Three stalls down from a ghetto white boy selling sheep placenta was a vegetable stand. Rows of overly ripped tomatoes and heat-wilted lettuce lined the front of the wooden counter surface. A thin female form wrapped from head to toe in a gray blanket watched anxiously as Cree scanned over the meager items, hoping that she would find something she liked.  
  
Cree looked over to the two largest tomatoes in the last stack on the left. A large brownish bruise colored almost an entire side of one of the tomatoes, and the other one emitted such a pungent ripened smell that flies were drawn two it. Out of the whole lot of tomatoes they were the best ones. Cree knew they were barely edible, but she pointed to them and watched as the stall owner hurriedly slid them into a plastic bag for her. The woman was barely getting by. And judging by her thin form in the blanket she was starving, and Cree would rather buy rotting tomatoes then act like she was above the reality before her.  
  
She wandered along the outer edge of South Market where the shopkeepers built their shanty homes. Several children were playing a sword fight game out of wooden 1 x 8's and a woman was washing her family's laundry in a metal tub outside her home. Cree stepped over a puddle of motor oil and radiator fluid - carefully watching a brown Pit Bull guard dog eying her - and handed the bag of tomatoes to the lady washing clothes.  
  
The woman set down a pair of child's pants she had been scrubbing and looked up to Cree, shielding her eyes from the afternoon sun with her hand. "Gracias." She set the bag closer to the tub and continued her washing.  
  
"De nada," Cree answered back sincerely and continued down the road. She didn't expect a big dramatic 'you-saved-my-baby's-life' thank you. The rule of the street: 'you help someone, they'll get your back later'. It was just understood.  
  
Several teens were working in their junk heap of a Caddy right in the middle of the street so Cree had to climb up over the car's rusted out trunk to get by.  
  
"Hey honey buns!" One of the teens - brown eyed with a fade haircut that went out way before he was born - poked his head out from under the car's hood. "I got somethin' else you can climb up on top of."  
  
Cree glowered at the teen. "Does your mother know about that dirty mouth I'm about to knock off?" She was so busy trying to lay some harsh words of reality on the groper that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ran into someone.  
  
"Sorry-" Cree's apology was cut short after she realized that she had collided with a familiar guy with blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She recognized Zack immediately but didn't say anything to make it known. His eyes were on her, examining her like a strategist to his enemy's battle plans.  
  
Cree stared back just as hard, not accepting his examination as something she just had to sit there and take. He didn't give her as hard a look as the men who use to rape did. But she did feel a hard glare behind his eyes. Zack wasn't a rapist; he was like a soldier examining every aspect of his enemy to find a weak point.  
  
"I'm not in the mood for your crap little girl," Zack was the first one to break the silence, cutting off Cree's chance to get the first word in. His eyes were hard as rocks and he pushed past her, leaving his statement to ring in her ears.  
  
"Hello to you too," Cree muttered under her breath. She watched a man she barely knew walk down the street. He looked to be wandering, but he walked with such a commanding stance it was as if he didn't want people to know he had no real destination in mind.  
  
"Cree," Ming's voice reached her before she did. She stopped in front of her daughter with a plastic bag of fruit hanging loosely from one hand. "If I'd a known you'd be here to help carry groceries I would've made a longer list," Ming laughed quietly at her own joke, but her brow creased a moment later when she observed Cree watching someone intently. Her eyes spotted the man her daughter was eyeing. "Does Ty know you cheat?"  
  
Cree didn't get a chance to reply before her mom's cell phone rang inside her leather sling purse. Ming fished out the Motorola that was ringing out the 1812 Overture.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
_"Hey sweetness, how's my girl?"_  
  
Ming smiled at her husband's choice of words. "Since when am I now just a girl baby?"  
  
Peter chuckled from his end. _"Okay sexy momma, you lookin' for a take down?"  
_  
"You don't know how good that sounds right now," Ming responded, her brow creasing even further when she realized Cree wasn't even commenting about her parents 'sex talking' over the phone. "Guess who I ran into at the market today?"  
  
_"Your mother,"_ Peter joked. He knew how much Ming hated her mother and her strict ideals of 'obedient daughters'  
  
"No this is someone I _enjoy _seeing," Ming replied. "Your daughter."  
  
_"Wow, what a small city Seattle must for you to run into our child. You mind if I talk to her?"_  
  
"Dad wants to talk to you," Ming handed Cree the phone.  
  
Cree took the phone, but her eyes remained on Zack who was standing beside a very expensive looking black motorcycle fiddling with something in the engine.  
  
_"Hey honey you there?"_ Peter asked Cree because he was just listening to her breathe.  
  
"Sorry dad I spaced out," Cree finally answered.  
  
_"No big deal, so long as you come back down to Earth now and talk with your ol' pop."_  
  
"You're not my pop," Cree corrected. "You're my dad. Pop is a drink."  
  
Peter laughed, glad to have the honor of being around women with senses of humor. _"Okay then dear daughter, you know I'm getting to miss you and mom around here."  
_  
"Mom especially," Cree remarked.  
  
_"No baby I miss both my girls."_  
  
"Daddy don't lie. I know what you'd like to do to mom right now."  
  
_"Do you now? What happened to sweet innocence?"_  
  
Cree was about to answer but a scene unfolded in front of her that completely shocked her. Screeching tires were heard as two large black Humvees pulled to a stop in front of the market. A barrage of armed soldiers poured out of their interiors and stopped - with loaded weapons in front of Zack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
Zack heard five semi-automatic assault rifles cock inches away from his body. He stood up from his crouched position. That number grew as three other soldiers joined the unit escorting a man Zack would rather they have their guns turned on.  
  
Deck stopped a foot away from Zack, his own hand held Beretta aimed at the X5. "There are a few questions I'd like you to debrief me on." His voice was low, but authoritative.  
  
Zack watched the weapons of the soldiers. "And if I refuse?"  
  
"Then I take you out of this place in a bag," Lydecker answered coldly. "It's your call Zack. But I would rather know why one of my top line decided to go hump pretty Spanish flesh then to have him brought back in plastic." Deck paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "I mean it wasn't like she was so special right? Just some cheap floozy you picked up at a Mexican bar."  
Deck watched Zack's eyes flair up at the description, as he knew they would. "There are probably a thousand and one hookers just like her across the boarder you could go fondle later-"  
  
Zack lunged forward and grabbed Lydecker by the throat, disarming him with his free hand. The Beretta and its clip were thrown to the dirt at Deck's feet.  
  
Shots fired from electrode tazers that found a home in the back of Zack's neck. The voltage dropped him to the ground a second later.  
  
Lydecker bent down and picked up his weapon from the dirt, wiping the clip off and sliding it back in. "That's what I thought you'd say." He tucked the weapon away in his waist holster. "Restrain him and load him inside."  
  
"Yes Sir," a soldier responded as he and two others descended on Zack's still form and dragged him off to a waiting Humvee.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
"What the hell was that?" Ming said watching the soldiers close the door on the unconscious man. "I've been a cop long enough to know what they do, and that's not what they do."  
  
Cree watched in a stunned silence as the unit of soldiers started loading back up inside their Humvees and the middle aged man in a leather flight coat stood beside the Humvee where Zack was, talking to a soldier with an AK-47 strapped to his waist. "That was Max's brother," Cree blurted out the words quickly, trying to think of something to do. She didn't even know the man, but knew that the whole situation was dangerously wrong.  
  
Ming's face screwed up in shock. "What the hell did they think he did to warrant all that?"  
  
"I don't know," Cree replied quickly. "But something doesn't feel right. What kind of cops have that much back up fire power?"  
  
"I'll ask," Ming announced cryptically, pushing past Cree before she got the chance to wonder what her mother was up too.  
  
Ming ran right up to the Humvee's and -as she suspected - one of the soldiers halted her.  
  
"This is a restricted area ma'am. You're going to have to turn back."  
  
"C'mon soldier man, let a woman see what's going on." Ming insisted trying to shove past the soldier.  
  
The Private grabbed her by the shoulder's forcefully pulling her back. "I said you have to turn around now."  
  
"Son-of-a-bitch, get your hands off me!" Ming threw a piece of paper from her pocket against the Humvee where it hit under the license tag.  
  
"Hey!" the Private yelled at her pushing her back. "Get the hell outta here now!"  
  
"Yeah fuck you too prick," Ming hissed yanking away from the soldier and walking back with a pissy look on her face. The soldier turned back to get into the Humvee so he didn't see Ming turn around to make sure the tiny honing device she stuck on the Humvee was secure.  
  
XXXXXXXXXXXXX  
  
FOGLE TOWERS

2:15 PM  
  
Jondy sat slung out across Logan's leather easy chair pretending to be interested in a Physics book she had found in his stash of old college material. She had mastered Physics when she was seven and she use to play games with her art students, trying to get them to draw something without applying any type of physics. So in reality she was bored, but didn't want to look bored.  
She had been at the penthouse all day, not wanting to leave until Logan dug up some more information about Lydecker. The news from Dr. Shankar was unnerving enough. But right now Jondy had to wait - wait until some thug guys Logan knew managed to track down Lydecker.  
  
Her ears picked up the sounds a steady noises coming from the Logan's bathroom. "Maxie you take one hell of a loud shower."  
  
_(scene switches to a shot of Logan's bathroom, clothes strewn across the floor. Shot slowly pans up to the steamy glass shower to reveal a figure inside with Max.)_  
  
_(Jondy's voice heard outside):_ "And don't think I don't know you're conserving water in there. Stegosauruses would get it on quieter then that!"  
  
_(scene switches to inside the shower. The figure inside is revealed to be Logan who has his arms wrapped around Max's nude form.)_  
  
Logan watched the water cascade down Max's long hair, turning almost to a black wave. Streams of water dripped down the sides of her face and some droplets were tangled up in her eyelashes. He removed one hand from her waist and gently cupped her breast against his palm backing her up slowly against the shower's tile wall.  
  
There was no hot water in Max's apartment so it became a good excuse to get a free shower out of the man. She had actually intended to take a shower alone, but Logan had come inside the bathroom to hand her clean towels and a hot blast of steam wafted out of the shower. The sight of her wet form was tempting enough, but the look in her eyes is what clenched it. A look of, raw animal desire of want, but also a human need for contact after all she had seen and witnessed that day.  
  
Logan could smell the soap she had just used on her skin, and he followed its Aloe Vera scent all over her exposed skin, tracing paths down it's softness with his free hand.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
_I wanted you to know _

_That I love the way you laugh _

_I wanna hold you high and steal your pain ...away_  
  
xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Max tilted her head up when she felt Logan working his way to the flesh of her neck. She wound her arms around his neck and tilted her head down to get him to put his kisses on her mouth. He tasted of water and coffee and sweat, though the warm water felt cold to her now. But after the events of the day she craved the skin-to-skin contact that was sending her into ecstasy right now.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
_I keep your photograph _

_And I know it serves me well _

_I wanna hold you high and steal your pain_  
  
xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Logan eased up on his pressure to hold Max against the wall because he though he was crushing her. But Max put an end to his worry by pulling him closer to her body.  
  
"Don't stop," her words were said on a sultry drop of pure lust.  
  
His hands found her hair and he raked them through its expanse while he roamed his mouth over every part of hers.  
  
XXXXXXX  
  
The ringing of Logan's cordless phone dragged Jondy away from pseudo reading. She laid the book down on the hardwood floor and climbed out of her chair with the grace of a cat. She stretched on the way to answer the incessant ringing phone.  
  
"Logan Cale's answering service."  
  
_"Is Max there?"_ Cree's voice came over the cell phone as she drove away from South Market with Ming in the passenger seat.  
  
"Max is busy," Jondy responded tersely. "What do you want?"  
  
_"Please, it's important. It's about her brother Zack-"_  
  
Jondy's sarcastic air immediately dropped and she listened to Cree's frantic message.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome _

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
The quiet rumble of the powerful Humvee engine rumbled throughout it's interior. A small peak of light came through a peeling section of the black out window. The cargo hold was littered with cables, ropes, cross bows. Three soldiers squatted in the tiny leather stool seats, holding onto a rod suspended at the top of the Humvee to prevent them from being slammed around if the Humvee should stop suddenly.  
  
A two-foot wide gap was between the rows of seat and the three soldiers had the barrels of their weapons aimed down at the still form of Zack. Handcuffs bound his arms in front of him and his legs were in shackles that were secured by a chain to a link on the Humvee floor.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
_You're gone away _

_You don't feel me here....anymore_  
  
xxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Sorry this took so long to get up. I was busy with school and honestly didn't know where this chapter was going. But after getting inspiration it cranked out pretty fast.  
  
This chapter's featured songs:  
  
Zack in the elevator - "Hello" (Evanescence)  
  
Max/Logan scene/Ending Scene - "Broken" (Seether featuring Amy Lee)

R/R Please


End file.
